Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Crowding-in

Using the National Compensation Survey from 2009 to 2022 and difference-in-differences methods, we find that state-level sick pay mandates are effective in broadening access to paid sick leave for U.S. workers. Increases in sick pay coverage reach 30 percentage points from a 63% baseline 5 years post-mandate. Mandates have more bite in jobs with low pre-mandate coverage. Further, mandates reduce inequality in access to paid sick leave substantially, both across and within firms. COVID-19 reinforced existing upward trends in coverage and take-up. Five years post mandate, sick leave use has linearly increased to 2.4 days per year for marginal jobs. Finally, we find <i>crowding-in</i> of non-mandated benefits, which we label "job upscaling" by firms to differentiate jobs and attract labor.