This story originally appeared on Timetastic and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Which industries get the most (and least) time off?
Most private industry workers in the United States receive paid time off, but it is not required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Timetastic used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, last updated in September 2021, to illustrate which industries offer the best access to paid vacation time. We've ranked industries according to the percentage of workers who have access to paid vacations, with ties broken by the number of days off a person receives after working in the industry for a year. Data is available for workers who have consolidated leave plans (CLP), which are blanket time-off policies that do not distinguish between vacation, illness, or personal business days, and those who do not.
Nationwide, about three-quarters of all private industry workers receive paid time off, or PTO. Two weeks is the average offering for companies with CLP. More full-time workers get paid-time-off than part-time workers: 46% and 35%, respectively.
Larger companies tend to be more generous. At companies with 500 workers or more, 92% of workers have access to paid vacations. That compares to 71% at smaller companies of up to 49 employees. Union members were also found to get 26.6% more vacation time than nonunion workers as more PTO is typically negotiated when settling union contracts. Companies such as Netflix have even turned to an entirely different model: unlimited PTO. This gives employees the agency to take time off at will within reason.
But with U.S. workers already leaving 4.6 vacation days unused in 2021 on average, unlimited PTO may result in employees taking even less time off than average.
#10. Leisure and hospitality
- Workers with access to PTO: 43%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 9 days (CLP) 6 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 13 days (CLP), 9 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 15 days (CLP), 12 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 16 days (CLP), 12 days (no consolidated leave)
The leisure and hospitality industry—made up of hotel clerks, restaurant cooks, casino workers, and a host of other positions—was hit exceptionally hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Hotel and Lodging Association found it lost as many jobs as government, health services, construction, retail, manufacturing, and education combined.
While workers in this industry tend to accrue more PTO after being with a company for more than a year, the turnover rate works against employees here: BLS data shows turnover in the hospitality industry hovers as high as 80% annually. versus 10%-15% across all industries.
The unemployment rate for this industry in February 2022 was 6.6%, compared to the national jobless rate of 3.8%.
#9. Trade, transportation, and utilities
- Workers with access to PTO: 81%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 11 days (CLP), 7 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 16 days (CLP), 12 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 19 days (CLP), 15 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 23 days (CLP), 18 days (no consolidated leave)
The trade, transportation, and utilities industry is large and varied, from jobs in lumber yards to hauling cargo. Paid leave—which includes vacation time, holidays, sick leave, and personal leave—can cost employers up to 8.5% of a workers’ total compensation.
In Texas, these jobs contributed nearly 20% of the state’s GDP in 2016, at $317.3 billion; making trade, transportation, and utilities among the highest-grossing in the state.
#8. Professional and business services
- Workers with access to PTO: 81%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 14 days (CLP), 10 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 18 days (CLP), 13 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 20 days (CLP), 16 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 22 days (CLP), 18 days (no consolidated leave)
Paid vacations are available to the vast number of employees in this field, which include advertising, law, accounting firms, architecture companies, management consulting companies, and others.
Americans often don’t always take the time they are entitled to. Some 70% of owners of small businesses, in particular, do not view holidays as a time to take away from work. According to the U.S. Travel Association, U.S. workers left 4.6 days unused in 2021, and 5.6 days unused in 2020, which contributed largely to burnout. A 2016 Harvard Business Review article cited a study finding that for the first time more than half of Americans did not take all of their vacations. The article also noted workers who used more than 10 of their days off had a 65.4% chance of getting a raise or a bonus.
#7. Construction
- Workers with access to PTO: 82%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 8 days (CLP), 7 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 11 days (CLP), 10 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 13 days (CLP), 12 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 14 days (CLP), 13 days (no consolidated leave)
Some construction companies have over the last decade moved away from the traditional way they allot time off, with separate categories for paid vacation, personal days and sick leave. They have instead adopted what is known as a PTO benefit. Vacation time, personal days, and sick leave are rolled into one plan for a consolidated-leave plan model. Construction officials have largely been against other changes in paid leave. When former President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2015 requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to provide up to seven days for sickness or other uses, the Associated General Contractors of America objected, citing long periods of layoffs because of weather and other variables in the industry.
#6. Education and health services
- Workers with access to PTO: 82%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 16 days (CLP), 10 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 20 days (CLP), 14 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 23 days (CLP), 16 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 25 days (CLP), 17 days (no consolidated leave)
On average, teachers have about 12 days for sick time or personal leave during the school year. Amid COVID-19, however, teachers across the country are running out of sick days and a federal requirement that schools offer paid time off for COVID-19 illness or exposure has expired.
Similarly, many nurses, doctors, and other health professionals across the country have been under enormous stress during the pandemic. Adding to the pressure for some, they have recently been told to take sick leave or personal days if they test positive for COVID-19.
#5. Real estate and rental and leasing
- Workers with access to PTO: 86%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 12 days (CLP), 10 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 15 days (CLP), 14 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 17 days (CLP), 16 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 18 days (CLP), 17 days (no consolidated leave)
With about 106,500 real estate brokerage firms in the country, a competitive benefits package with paid time off can help companies recruit and retain employees.
Brokers can classify their real estate salespeople as either employees or independent contractors, and those independent contractors have far more flexibility to take time away from the office. Independent contractors, not bound to rules and regulations of the company or companies they’re signed onto, are able to more freely create their own hours and schedules. Other companies in this category are primarily in the business of renting or leasing properties or goods or in related services.
#4. Information
- Workers with access to PTO: 90%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 17 days (CLP), 11 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 22 days (CLP), 15 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 25 days (CLP), 17 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 27 days (CLP), 20 days (no consolidated leave)
Netflix, Oracle, LinkedIn, and Twitter are all companies in the information business sector—and all offer unlimited vacation days. The open vacation policy was originated by Netflix, whose CEO Reed Hastings says he takes at least six weeks each year. He attributes employee loyalty at the company in large part to Netflix's generous vacation and parental leave policies.
Workplace management software company Kronos (now merged with Ultimate Software to become UKG) began an unlimited or open vacation policy in 2016. In a Harvard Business Review article, its CEO Aron Ain said changes in technology led professionals at every level to work after business hours. He added that vacation policies clearly delineating between time off and vacation seemed antiquated.
#3. Manufacturing
- Workers with access to PTO: 95%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 11 days (CLP), 8 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 15 days (CLP), 12 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 18 days (CLP), 15 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 21 days (CLP), 18 days (no consolidated leave)
Among all non-agricultural workers, manufacturing's share of U.S. employment peaked during World War II to 38% but cratered from 32% in 1955 to 8% in 2019 just prior to the advent of COVID-19. The sheer number of manufacturing employees hit an all-time high in the 1970s with around 20 million workers. Many of these jobs have since become automated or been shipped overseas.
The Congressional Research Service in 2017 warned the industry’s wages and benefits were under pressure from cost-cutting, plant closures, and the loss of jobs to other countries. The manufacturing industry was not spared from the Great Resignation, leading employers to rethink hiring incentives in a post-COVID-19 employment landscape.
#2. Financial activities
- Workers with access to PTO: 95%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 17 days (CLP), 12 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 21 days (CLP), 15 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 24 days (CLP), 17 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 26 days (CLP), 19 days (no consolidated leave)
The financial services sector is key to the country’s security, but it faces a number of risks, including cyberattacks, says the federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency.
Professional services network Deloitte predicted a pivotal opportunity for financial services in 2022, pointing to banking, capital markets, financial services firms, and others to lead the industry’s future. Deloitte urged the industry to invest in talent while rethinking the workplace, and paid time off plans may be a place to begin.
#1. Insurance carriers
- Workers with access to PTO: 97%
- Average PTO after 1 year: 17 days (CLP), 11 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 5 years: 22 days (CLP), 15 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 10 years: 24 days (CLP), 17 days (no consolidated leave)
- Average PTO after 20 years: 27 days (CLP), 19 days (no consolidated leave)
Some 2.9 million people worked in the U.S. insurance industry in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The largest number of those, 1.7 million, worked for insurance companies.
Research from Deloitte found that despite concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry expects rapid growth in 2022 as the demand for insurance increases. With 97% of these workers having access to PTO, competitive benefits packages will need to be more comprehensive than in other industries.
