In recent election cycles, U.S. general elections have become longer and more demanding on voters, which has impacted workers’ well-being and necessitated breaks from daily activities. Using Gusto payroll data, we analyzed changes in average sick time usage leading up to the November 8, 2016, and November 3, 2020, general elections. Our findings revealed that the average worker used 10% more sick time during presidential election weeks in 2016 and 2020 compared to the same weeks in comparable years. Notably, our measure of sick time is separate from pre-scheduled or employer-sponsored paid time off to vote.
While vacation or other paid time off reflects planned time away from work, sick time is often used for immediate health needs. This trend suggests that as election demands increase, workers may prioritize their mental and physical health by taking more sick days to recover from the stress surrounding the electoral process. The particular events of each recent election illustrate this trend; uncertainty in the 2020 election lingered for days after the official voting ended on November 3. While the election in 2016 was called late on the night of November 8, 2016, the winner of the 2020 presidential election wasn’t called by major news networks until November 7, 2020. The increased use of sick time the week after the official end of voting in 2020 may be attributed to lingering uncertainty around that election outcome, along with a modest uptick in sick time taken in the week following the general election.
When we expand time to look at all time off – both planned paid time off (PTO) and impromptu time – we see workers shift toward planning for time away from work between 2016 and 2020.
In 2016, workers took less planned time away from work during the week that included the election as compared to the base year. However, despite more time off generally in late October and November 2020, by 2020 the workers took almost 10% more planned paid time off than in the same week of the comparison year. Workers who experienced the 2016 election seemed to be more forward looking by the time the 2020 election rolled around, and some decided to plan for time off instead of using their impromptu sick time.
As the U.S. prepares for the end of another long general election next week, workers may again seek opportunities to prioritize their mental and physical health by taking time away from work. Businesses should consider how increased time away may affect their operations.
Methodology
We measure average sick time taken in a week by looking at sick time paid by employers to employees in weeks that include the U.S. Presidential election, and calculate the percent change in the total number of sick hours paid in the same week during the comparable year. To calculate changes planned time off we used paid time away from work that did not include impromptu sick time. The comparable year for the 2016 election was 2017, and 2019 was used as the comparable year for the 2020 election. Due to concerns about lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on sick time, we confirmed that following the acute initial period of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 sick time use fell back to its 2019 levels in the summer of 2020. In order to closely tie sick time to the 2016 and 2020 elections we restrict our sample to employees paid weekly, and the pay period (rather than the pay date) included the election day.
