Paid Family Leave by Sector:
Retail Trade
Sector Characteristics
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, data extracted January 2017
EMPLOYErS
Approximately 1 million private establishments and 1,800 government establishments engaged in retailing merchandise, often in small quantities, to the general public. This includes store retailers and non-store retailers, encompassing grocery stores, clothing stores, motor vehicle dealers, gas stations, and more.
EMPLOYEES
Workers: 16 million
Average hourly earnings: $18.18
Average hours worked/week: 30.7 hrs
Paid Family Leave Coverage
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010-2016 NCS
Paid family leave coverage of private industry employees in Retail is low at about 7%. Notably, though, this represents an increase of three percentage points from the sector's 2010 coverage rate of 4%.
Benchmark for Average Duration of Paid Parental Leave
From publicly available policy details on over 250 companies with paid parental leave, December 2016
- Birth mothers: 12 weeks
- Fathers/secondary caregivers: 6 weeks
- Adoptive/foster parents: 6 weeks
Spotlight on New Policies: Retail Trade
From press coverage and publicly available policy information
Despite paid family leave's limited reach in the Retail Trade sector today, several employers have implemented new benefits in recent months.
Amazon, November 2015: Amazon now offers 20 weeks of fully paid leave to birth mothers and 6 weeks to all other new parents. They also offer a leave-sharing program in which employees can share up to 6 weeks of paid leave with a spouse or partner whose employer doesn't offer paid parental leave [See: Bloomberg]
eBay, January 2016: Birth mothers now receive 24 weeks of full pay, and all other new parents receive 12 weeks of full pay. All employees can also receive 12 weeks of fully paid caregiver leave [See: Fortune]
Patagonia, 2015: New birth mothers receive 16 weeks of fully paid maternity leave and all other new parents receive 12 weeks of fully paid leave. 12 weeks of fully paid caregiver and medical leave is also available to all employees [See: Quartz]
