Employee Benefits in Private Industry

 Technical Contact:                          USDL:  02-389
      (202) 691-6199  ocltinfo@bls.gov
 Media Contact:                              FOR RELEASE: 10:00 A.M. EDT
      (202) 691-5902  hoyle_k@bls.gov        TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2002
 Internet address:
      http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/home.htm


                Employee Benefits in Private Industry, 2000


  Paid time off continued to be the most prevalent benefit available to
workers in private establishments in 2000.  Paid vacations were available
to 80 percent of employees and paid holidays to 77 percent of employees in
private industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.
Department of Labor.

  These data are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), which
provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings, compensation cost
trends, and details of benefit provisions.  The focus of this news release
is on the incidence of employee benefits, ranging from health and
retirement benefits to subsidized commuting; it also includes data on
employee contributions to medical care plans.  A forthcoming bulletin will
contain data on detailed provisions of health and retirement plans.  (See
the technical note for definitions.)

  In 2000, 52 percent of employees in private industry participated in
medical care plans.  Forty-eight percent were covered by retirement
benefits of at least one type, either a defined benefit plan (19 percent)
or a defined contribution plan (36 percent), with approximately 7 percent
of employees enrolled in both types of plans.  Life insurance was available
to over half of all employees in private industry.  Short- and long-term
disability benefits were less common; they were available to 34 and 26
percent of employees, respectively.  Other benefits frequently offered in
private industry include non-production bonuses (offered to 48 percent of
employees) and work-related educational assistance (available to 38
percent).  Among benefits less often available to employees were severance
pay (available to 20 percent of employees), job-related travel accident
insurance (15 percent), and long-term care insurance (7 percent).

  Of the 52 percent of private sector workers with medical care coverage,
premiums were fully paid by the employer for 32 percent of those with
single coverage plans and 19 percent of those with family coverage.  The
majority of medical plan participants were required to contribute a flat
monthly amount, averaging $54.40 for single coverage and $179.75 for family
coverage.

  Access to most benefits, as well as the availability of fully paid
medical care and the amount of required contributions to the cost of
medical care, varied by worker and establishment characteristics.

  Tables 1-2 highlight the incidence of coverage for employee benefits by
worker and establishment characteristics.  Tables 3-5 show data on employee
contributions to medical care.

Worker characteristics

  Benefits coverage varied by occupational group, full- and part-time
status, and union and nonunion status.  Of the three occupational groups
for which data are presented in this release, professional, technical, and
related employees generally had the greatest incidence of coverage.
Retirement benefits covered 66 percent of professional, technical, and
related employees, compared with 50 percent of clerical and sales employees
and 39 percent of blue-collar and service employees.  Work-related
educational assistance was available to 62 percent of professional,
technical, and related workers, 37 percent of clerical and sales workers,
and 28 percent of blue-collar and service workers.  Non-work related
educational assistance was much less prevalent, but was also more often
provided to professional, technical, and related workers than to the other
groups.  (See table 2.)

  Payment of premiums for medical care coverage also varied by employee
characteristics.  Thirty-eight percent of blue-collar and service workers
covered by medical care benefits had their coverage fully paid for by their
employers, compared with 25 percent of professional, technical, and related
employees and 28 percent of clerical and sales employees.

  Full-time employees were much more likely to have benefits coverage than
were part-time employees.  Fifty-five percent of full-time employees were
covered by retirement benefits, compared with 18 percent of part-time
employees. The difference in participation in health care benefits was even
greater: 61 percent of full-time employees were covered by medical care
plans, compared with 13 percent of part-time workers.  (See table 1.)

Establishment characteristics

  Benefit incidence varied by establishment employment size.   For
example, 65 percent of workers in establishments with 100 employees or more
(medium and large establishments) were covered by retirement benefits
compared with 33 percent of employees in small establishments (those with
fewer than 100 workers).  The difference in coverage for paid time off
benefits was smaller: 86 percent of employees in medium and large
establishments had paid holiday benefits, for example, compared with 70
percent in small establishments.  (See table 2.)  The incidence of fully
paid coverage for medical care was similar in small establishments to that
in medium and large establishments.  Average monthly employee contributions
for single coverage averaged $60.12 in small establishments and $49.56 in
medium and large establishments.

  Coverage for benefits also varied by industry.  Retirement benefits
covered 57 percent of workers in goods-producing industries, compared with
45 percent in service-producing industries.  Long-term disability coverage
also was more widespread in goods-producing industries, covering 31 percent
of employees compared with 24 percent of employees in service-producing
industries.  Short-term disability benefits covered 45 percent of employees
in goods-producing industries and 30 percent of those in service-producing
industries.  (See table 1.)