March 20, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employer costs for paid leave in private industry, December 2007

Employer costs for paid leave benefits were highest for management, professional, and related occupations, $3.93 per hour, or 8.4 percent of total compensation, in December 2007.

Employer costs per hour worked for paid leave, private industry, by major occupational group, December 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

Costs were lowest among service occupations, 58 cents or 4.4 percent of total compensation. 

For all workers in private industry, the costs for paid leave benefits averaged $1.79 per hour (6.8 percent of total compensation).

These data come from the Compensation Cost Trends program. For additional information, see "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation–December 2007," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-0331. Paid leave includes vacations, holidays, sick leave, and other leave such as personal leave, military leave, and funeral leave.

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