Majority of Employees Receive an Array of Benefits
September 3, 2006
by Employment & Labor Law / Employee Benefits Group
Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP
Copyright © 2006
A majority of employees in private industry have access to medical care plans, life insurance, and retirement plans, and also receive paid vacations, paid holidays and even paid jury duty, according to an August 24, 2006 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Medical Plans – Seventy-one percent of workers in the private sector had access to medical plans, and 52 percent participated in such plans in March 2006 (including 64 percent of full-time employees and 13 percent of part-time workers).
- Employee Contributions – "Seventy-five percent of medical care plan participants were required to contribute to the cost of their single coverage, and 87 percent were required to contribute towards the cost of their family coverage." On average, employees paid 18 percent of the medical care premium for single coverage ($76.05 per month) and 30 percent of the premium for family coverage ($296.88 per month). "The employee share of family coverage premiums was higher for workers in service-producing industries than for those in goods-participating industries and also was higher for workers in small establishments (those with fewer than 100 employees), even though employee shares for single coverage were comparable among those groups."
- Employer Contributions - "Employer premiums for medical care plans averaged $266.50 a month per participant for single coverage and $617.18 for family coverage; premiums were higher for those employees who were not required to contribute than for those who were."
- Health Savings Accounts - "Health savings accounts are available to six percent of workers, although they are offered more often to white-collar, full-time workers, and those in occupations with average hourly earnings of $15 or higher. Workers in medium-sized and large establishments also had greater access to health savings accounts than the other employee groups."
Dental Care - Less than half of all workers had access to dental coverage (46 percent) and only about a third of employees (36 percent) participated in such plans.
Vision Care - Only 29 percent of employees had access to vision coverage, and 22 percent of workers participated in such plans.
Retirement Plans – Six in ten workers had access to retirement plans, and over half (51 percent) participated in a retirement plan of at least one type. About half of private establishment offered retirement plans, but only ten percent offered a defined benefit plan, while 47 percent offered a defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k) plan.
Life and Disability – "Fifty-two percent of workers had access to life insurance, and nearly as many, 50 percent, participated. Short- and long-term disability benefits were available to 39 and 30 percent of workers retrospectively, and nearly all participated."
Vacations – Paid vacations were available to 77 percent of employees. "The number of days of paid vacations typically increase the longer workers remain on the job. Variation was observed across occupational groups: after 1 year, a 5-day yearly paid vacation was the most common among blue-collar and service workers. For white-collar workers it was a 10-day vacation." Workers on average received 8.9 days of paid vacation after 1 year, 11.1 days after 3 years, 13.6 days after 5 years, 16.2 days after 10 years, 17.8 days after 15 years, 18.6 days after 20 years, and 19.3 days after 25 years.
Holidays – Paid holidays were available to 76 percent of employees, and workers on average were eligible for eight paid holidays per year.
Jury Duty and Military Leave – Paid jury duty also was common, available to 70 percent of workers. Forty-eight percent of employees had paid military leave benefits.
Child Care - "Employer assistance for childcare was available to 15 percent of workers. Childcare resource and referral services were available to 11 percent of all workers; employer-provided funds as well as on- and off-site childcare were rare."
Long-Term Care Assistance and Adoption Assistance - "Long-term care insurance was offered to 12 percent and adoption assistance to 10 percent of employees. Both of these benefits were more commonly available to white-collar workers, union workers, and to workers with average earnings of $15 or higher."
Bottom Line - This national compensation survey, which also breaks down benefits by geographical areas, union and nonunion workers, and white-collar, blue collar, and service occupations, is a useful tool for employers in assessing their own benefit programs.
Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP is one of the country's largest law firms with more than 335 attorneys in more than 45-industry-focused areas. If you would like more information regarding this summary, please contact one of our Employment & Labor Law and Employee Benefits attorneys.
Law at Work is designed to give general information and is not intended to be a comprehensive summary or to treat exhaustively the subjects and matters covered. The information appearing herein does not constitute legal advice or opinions. Such advice and opinions are provided only upon engagement with respect to specific factual situations. Nothing contained herein shall be considered as an admission in any matter or controversy.
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