2026 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
Leave
Essential Leave Benefits for Today’s Workforce
Leave benefits remain a cornerstone of employee support, with vacation, holiday, and sick leave widely offered by employers. While family and parental leave offerings have grown in recognition of evolving workforce needs, particularly for caregivers, other types of leave, such as civic leave, have seen declines.
These shifts highlight the balancing act employers face in adapting benefits to meet changing employee expectations while navigating broader policy and workforce trends. In light of legislation and cultural shifts, paid family leave has emerged as a key strategy for retention and workforce participation, reflecting its growing importance.
How Do Your Benefits Stack Up?
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Most Employers Determine Amount of Paid Leave by Service Time
Most organizations — 72% — use an employee’s service time (i.e., their tenure at the organization) when determining the amount of leave granted. Meanwhile, 52% of organizations use the number of hours worked, and 30% use employee level.
Average Amount of Paid Time Off Differs by Service Time
Organizations that determine the amount of paid time off (PTO) through service time were asked the average number of paid days off granted to employees according to their service time at the organization. Organizations fall into one of two groups: 1) those offering either paid vacation or paid sick leave as separate offerings or 2) those using a combined PTO bank that covers both sick and vacation time. Of the three major categories of paid leave, paid vacation leave saw the most increases in the average number of days offered across each level of service.
The darker colors on the table below indicate larger changes from last year. Blue tones reflect increases in average paid days offered since last year, and orange tones reflect decreases since last year.
How Organizations Handle Leave Donation
One in 4 organizations (25%) offer a “leave donation” program, allowing employees to transfer their unused paid leave to colleagues. “Leave-sharing” was the most common type of leave donation (offered by 62% of employers), where employees donate time off to other employees directly in response to emergencies.
Leave for New Parents Experiences Increases
Employers are increasingly recognizing the value of paid leave as a major retention tool. As such, paid leave for new parents has experienced an increase in 2026.
Civic Leave Offerings Decrease
Though paid leave for new parents became more common in 2026, organizations cut back on their civic leave offerings.
