Although paid leave benefits are the most widely availablebenefits offered by employers, it doesn't mean employees have aguarantee. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' National CompensationSurvey shows some disparities in leave benefits.

For example, most full-time workers can plan a getaway thanks totheir employer, but getting paid when you're sick is more of aproblem. According to the Labor Bureau, 91 percent of full-timeworkers (and 37 percent of part-time workers) in the privateindustry receive paid vacations, but paid sick leave is lessprevalent, available only to 75 percent of full-time workers and 27percent of part-time workers.

Income disparities were also present: Paid vacations wereavailable to 90 percent of workers earning wages in the highest10th percent of private industry employees, but to only 38 percentof workers in the lowest 10 percent of private industry wageearners. Access to paid sick leave benefits ranged from 21 percentfor the lowest wage category to 87 percent for the highest wagecategory.

Statistics also uncovered much preferable benefits for state andlocal government workers compared to regular private industryemployees. Nearly 9 out of 10 state and local government workershave access to paid sick leave. Government workers also fare betterwhen it comes to medical care benefits (available to 87 percent ofthem compared to 69 percent of private industry workers),retirement benefits (90 percent compared to 67 percent of industryworkers) and unmarried domestic partner benefits (50 percentcompared to 7 percent of industry workers).