What Is Sick Leave Pay?

Sick leave pay is a benefit that allows employees to take time off for short- or long-term health needs and be compensated for this time. Depending on the company and state laws, employees may use sick leave pay to care for themselves or an immediate family member. 

Paid vs. Unpaid Sick Leave

The difference between paid and unpaid sick leave is that paid sick leave provides compensation during an employee’s leave, whereas unpaid sick leave does not. 

How Does Sick Leave Accrue?

On average, employees generally accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 or 40 hours worked (this depends on the state and the size of the workforce at a company). 

Unused paid sick leave time may be carried over to the next year, but this time may be capped at a certain number of hours/days.

What Should You Include in Your Sick Leave Policy?

Though company culture and state laws vary, we recommend employers include the following information in their paid sick leave policies: 

• Accrual: The policy should provide a detailed overview of how many hours of sick leave pay employees accrue after working a certain number of hours. It should also note whether this accrual begins at an employee’s date of hire or after a certain employment period. 
• Use: This should flesh out the circumstances that would fall under paid sick leave (personal illness, illness of an immediate family member, medical/dental appointments, etc.).  
• Method: Employees should understand how they can request sick leave. For example, you may want them to notify their supervisors via email or phone as soon as possible and have them document their sick days in their HR software platform.