In private industry, workers in the United States average about 11 days of paid vacation plus 7 days of paid sick leave after one year with the same employer, according to March 2025 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That total climbs with tenure, reaching roughly 20 vacation days after twenty years on the job. But how much PTO you get in a year is not set by any federal law — it depends on your employer’s policy, your industry, your years of service, whether you work full-time, and whether your state requires paid leave.1U.S. Department of Labor. Vacation Leave
Average Paid Days Off by Years of Service
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks paid leave averages through its National Compensation Survey. The pattern is straightforward: the longer you stay with one employer, the more vacation time you earn. Sick leave, on the other hand, barely moves with tenure in the private sector.
- After 1 year: 11 vacation days and 7 sick days in private industry; 13 vacation days and 11 sick days in state and local government
- After 5 years: 15 vacation days in private industry; 16 in government
- After 10 years: 18 vacation days in private industry; 19 in government
- After 20 years: 20 vacation days in private industry; 22 in government
Private-sector sick leave stays flat at about 7 days across a career, while government sick leave rises modestly from 11 to 12 days.2U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Paid Leave Benefits: Average Number of Sick and Vacation Days by Length of Service Requirement, March 2025
Who Actually Gets Paid Time Off
About 80 percent of private industry workers have access to paid vacation, though access varies sharply by occupation and schedule.3U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 6 – Selected Paid Leave Benefits: Access, 2025 Full-time employees are far more likely to receive paid leave than part-time workers. Professional and technical roles generally come with more generous packages than service or manual-labor jobs. Public-sector employees start with larger banks and accumulate leave faster at nearly every tenure milestone.
The Fair Labor Standards Act covers minimum wage and overtime but says nothing about vacation, sick days, or holidays. The Department of Labor states that these benefits are matters of agreement between an employer and an employee.1U.S. Department of Labor. Vacation Leave Everything you get is either voluntarily offered or required by your state or city.
State Paid Leave Laws
Roughly 17 states plus Washington, D.C., require some form of paid sick leave, and a few states go further and require broader earned leave that employees can use for any reason. These laws generally tie accrual to hours worked, often one hour of leave for every 30 to 40 hours on the job, and cap the annual total at 40 to 48 hours. Some laws apply only above a certain employer size; others cover almost every private employer in the state. A number of cities and counties add their own ordinances on top.
These rules change often and vary widely, so the most reliable way to confirm what you are legally entitled to is your state labor department’s website.
How Your Employer Distributes the Year’s PTO
Front-Loaded vs. Accrual
Employers hand out paid time off in one of two ways. A front-loaded system gives you the whole year’s allotment on a set date, usually January 1 or your hire anniversary. An accrual system adds hours with each pay period. A common accrual rate is about 3.08 hours per biweekly paycheck, which comes out to roughly 80 hours (10 days) over a full year. Part-time employees who accrue leave typically earn it proportionally, such as one hour of PTO for every 30 or 40 hours worked.
Proration for Mid-Year Hires
If you start a job partway through the year and your employer front-loads PTO, expect a prorated allotment. The standard calculation divides the annual PTO by 12, then multiplies by the months remaining. Someone hired in April with a 120-hour annual allotment would receive about 90 hours: 10 hours per month times 9 months. Employees on accrual systems do not need proration because leave builds from the start date.
Caps on What You Can Bank
Many employers set a ceiling on how much PTO you can hold at once. Once you hit the cap, you stop accruing more until you use some of what you have. A common cap falls between 1.5 and 2 times your annual accrual rate. Earn 10 days a year with a 1.75x cap and your balance tops out at 17.5 days.
Waiting Periods Before You Can Use PTO
Many employers require new hires to wait before spending accrued time, even if hours start building from day one. Waiting periods typically range from 30 days to six months, with 60 to 90 days being most common. Industries with heavy training costs or strict performance benchmarks tend to run longer. Some companies waive the waiting period entirely. Your offer letter or employee handbook should state the exact policy.
Unlimited PTO in Practice
A growing number of employers, especially in technology and professional services, offer unlimited PTO. In practice, employees on these plans take an average of about 16 days off per year, compared with 14 days for employees on traditional plans. The gap is smaller than most people expect, in part because the absence of a defined balance makes some workers hesitant to request time off.
Unlimited plans also change what happens when you leave. Because nothing technically accrues, employers generally have no obligation to pay out unused time at separation. If an employer labels a plan “unlimited” but caps approvals at a set number of days per year, a court or labor agency could treat it as a traditional accrual policy and require payout.
What Happens to Unused Days
Whether unused PTO carries over, gets paid out, or simply disappears depends on your state and your employer’s written policy. Roughly 20 states require employers to pay out accrued vacation at separation, though many allow forfeiture when the employer has a clear written policy stating so. A handful of states treat earned vacation as wages that can never be forfeited, no matter what the handbook says. In those states, unused time must be paid at the full cash value in your final check.
Only about four states as of 2025 outright prohibit use-it-or-lose-it policies. In the rest, these policies are generally enforceable as long as the employer communicates the rule in writing before you begin earning leave. Some employers also cap year-end rollover separately from the accrual cap, restricting how many hours carry into a new calendar year.
If an employer fails to pay out vested vacation in a state that requires it, you can file a wage claim. Some states impose damages of up to double the unpaid amount. Before you resign, review the written PTO policy and keep your own record of your accrued balance.