Decline in the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses following the implementation of a paid sick leave law in Connecticut

• Published in: American journal of industrial medicine Vol. 62; no. 10; pp. 859 - 873
• Main Authors: Hawkins, Devan, Zhu, Junli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.10.2019
• Subjects: Confidence intervals; Employee benefits; Illnesses; Injuries; Occupational accidents; Occupational health; Occupational safety; Occupations; paid sick leave; policy; Sick leave; Workers; United States > US; Connecticut; occupational health; paid sick leave; policy
• DOI: 10.1002/ajim.23028
• ISSN: 0271-3586

Background Workers with paid sick leave may have a lower rate of occupational injuries compared with other workers. This study sought to determine whether there was a decline in the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses following the implementation of a paid sick leave law in Connecticut (CT). Methods Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was used to calculate the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses in CT in the 3 years before (2009‐11) and after (2012‐14) the law was implemented. These numbers were compared with New York (NY) and the United States, and between the occupations specified by the CT law and other occupations. Results Among service occupations addressed by the CT paid‐sick‐leave law, the rate of occupational injuries declined more in CT compared to rates for those same occupations in NY and the United States. Within CT, injury and illness rates showed a greater decline in occupations specified by the law (−17.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = −15.6‐−19.9) compared with other occupations (−6.8%; 95% CI = −6.6%‐−7.0%) between the two periods. Conclusions A paid sick leave law was associated with an increased decline in occupational injuries and illnesses in affected service workers in the period after implementation. Further research should examine the possible reasons for the associations seen here.