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Investing September 22, 2006
Benefits Account for 30% of Compensation Costs in June
September 22, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Employer
costs for employee compensation averaged $26.86 per hour in
June 2006, according to data from the Department of Labor's
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Reported by Rebecca Moore
A BLS news release said wages and salaries made up 70% of these costs ($18.80), while benefits accounted for the other 30% ($8.06). Costs for legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation, averaged $2.17 per hour.
Employers spent an average of $2.19 per hour for life, health, and disability insurance benefits and $1.88 on average for paid leave benefits, the release said. Retirement and savings benefits averaged $1.15 per hour.
In the private sector, for June 2006, the average cost for retirement and savings benefits was $0.91 per hour. Defined benefit plans accounted for $0.45 of that cost, while defined contribution plans accounted for $0.46.
By occupation category, retirement and savings costs were lowest for service occupations ($0.18 per hour) and highest for management and professional occupations ($1.82 per hour). Cost was higher for union workers ($2.42) than for non-union workers ($0.73).
The BLS press release is here .
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