According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average number of paid sick days is 8 for any employee of at least a year and 11 for an employee with 25 years’ experience with the company. SurePayroll recently surveyed small business owners nationwide, asking them how many paid sick days they give employees. Here’s what they said: Less than 5 days: 80 (30% of respondents) 5 days: 42 (15.7% of respondents) 6 – 10 days: 37 (13.9% of respondents)