Paid sick leave and nonfatal occupational injuries

A. Asfaw, R. Pana-Cryan and R. Rosa

American Journal of Public Health, 2012, vol. 102, issue 9, e59-e64

Abstract: Objectives: We examined the association between US workers' access to paid sick leave and the incidence of nonfatal occupational injuries from the employer's perspective. We also examined this association in different industries and occupations. Methods: We developed a theoretical framework to examine the business value of offering paid sick leave. Data from the National Health Interview Survey were used to test the hypothesis that offering paid sick leave is associated with a reduced incidence of occupational injuries. We used data on approximately 38 000 working adults to estimate a multivariate model. Results. With all other variables held constant, workers with access to paid sick leave were 28% (95% confidence interval = 0.52, 0.99) less likely than workers without access to paid sick leave to be injured. The association between the availability of paid sick leave and the incidence of occupational injuries varied across sectors and occupations, with the greatest differences occurring in highrisk sectors and occupations. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, similar to other investments in worker safety and health, introducing or expanding paid sick leave programs might help businesses reduce the incidence of nonfatal occupational injuries, particularly in high-risk sectors and occupations.

Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300482

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2011.300482_5

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300482

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().