By Stephen D. Bruce, PHR
Editor, HR Daily Advisor
Nearly 1,000 readers responded to our recent survey on Employee Benefits Other than Health Insurance. For years, BLR and HR hero have been surveying employers to find out what’s happening with benefits in the real world, and this year’s survey offers interesting results.
For example:
- About 38 percent offer wellness programs
- About one third offer flextime, only about one fifth offer telecommuting, and nearly 64 percent offer a flexible spending account
- About 21 percent think their benefits are more generous than their competitor’s and about 42 percent think their benefits are about the same (although 30 percent don’t know).
- About 56 percent think costs will rise, but only 14 percent think the rise will be significant.
As for “atypical” benefits:
- 15 percent offer an onsite fitness center
- 16 percent offer financial planning assistance
- 15 percent offer a legal assistance program
- 6 percent offer sabbaticals
- 134 percent offer commuter benefits
- 12 percent offer free or low-priced meal
- 1 percent offer concierge service
Respondents represented all 50 states, with a good mix of type of business and number of employees. About 80 percent of respondents make decisions or recommendations on employee benefits.
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Here are the detailed results:
Which of these benefits do you offer to your employees?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Health insurance |
977 |
92.96% |
|
Dental insurance |
930 |
88.49% |
|
Vision insurance |
748 |
71.17% |
|
Short-term disability |
714 |
67.94% |
|
Long-term disability |
777 |
73.93% |
|
Life insurance |
912 |
86.77% |
|
Employee assistance program |
623 |
59.28% |
|
Paid sick days |
610 |
58.04% |
|
Paid holidays |
873 |
83.06% |
|
Paid vacation days |
693 |
65.94% |
|
PTO (paid time off with sick and vacation lumped together) |
364 |
34.63% |
|
Defined-benefit retirement plan (traditional pension plan) |
197 |
18.74% |
|
Defined-contribution retirement plan (such as a 401(k) or 403(b)) |
860 |
81.83% |
|
Flexible spending account |
670 |
63.75% |
|
Stock options |
56 |
5.33% |
|
Tuition reimbursement |
523 |
49.76% |
|
Profit sharing |
191 |
18.17% |
|
Flex time |
340 |
32.35% |
|
Telecommuting |
218 |
20.74% |
|
On-site childcare |
31 |
2.95% |
|
Health and wellness program |
401 |
38.15% |
|
None of the above |
2 |
0.19% |
|
Other |
155 |
14.75% |
Do most of your business’ competitors offer similar non-wage benefits?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Yes, about the same |
425 |
42.29% |
|
No, our company’s benefits are MORE generous than our competitors |
214 |
21.29% |
|
No, our company’s benefits are LESS generous than our competitors |
48 |
4.78% |
|
Don’t know |
293 |
29.15% |
|
Other |
6 |
0.60% |
|
No answer |
19 |
1.89% |
What type of retirement benefits do you offer your employees?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Traditional 401(k) |
682 |
64.89% |
|
Roth 401(k) |
258 |
24.55% |
|
Company pension plan (defined-benefit plan) |
171 |
16.27% |
|
Profit sharing |
149 |
14.18% |
|
403(b) plan |
130 |
12.37% |
|
457 plan |
111 |
10.56% |
|
Employer stock options |
34 |
3.24% |
|
ESOP |
36 |
3.43% |
|
Union-sponsored pension plan (9) |
19 |
1.81% |
|
SIMPLE or SEP |
33 |
3.14% |
|
Other |
72 |
6.85% |
Do you outsource the administration of any of your benefits plans?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Health plan |
455 |
43.29% |
|
Retirement plan |
589 |
56.04% |
|
Flexible spending plan |
462 |
43.96% |
|
No, we do it all in-house |
227 |
21.60% |
|
No, we don’t offer these benefits |
14 |
1.33% |
|
Other |
36 |
3.43% |
How does your organization determine what benefits it will offer to employees?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Survey employees to see what they are interested in |
272 |
25.88% |
|
Work with a consultant to create a plan |
409 |
38.92% |
|
Evaluate benefits packages offered by other companies and our competitors |
446 |
42.44% |
|
Not sure |
123 |
11.70% |
|
Other |
135 |
12.84% |
When was the last time your organization did a comprehensive evaluation of its benefits package?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
2010 |
388 |
40.54% |
|
2009 |
61 |
6.37% |
|
2008 |
28 |
2.93% |
|
2007 |
16 |
1.67% |
|
before 2007 |
90 |
9.40% |
|
Other |
226 |
23.62% |
|
No answer |
148 |
15.46% |
If your organization has a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, what is the status of your employer match?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
We have never had an employer match. |
127 |
13.34% |
|
We stopped our employer match for a while but have reinstated it. |
48 |
5.04% |
|
We stopped our employer match but plan on reinstating it. |
53 |
5.57% |
|
We have an employer match and haven’t stopped it in the last few years. |
504 |
52.94% |
|
We have an employer match and plan on stopping it. |
4 |
0.42% |
|
Other |
88 |
9.24% |
|
No answer |
128 |
13.45% |
If your organization has a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, do you automatically enroll employees in it?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Yes |
250 |
26.18% |
|
No |
515 |
53.93% |
|
No, but we are planning to start automatic enrollment. |
31 |
3.25% |
|
We don’t offer a 401(k) or 403(b) plan. |
44 |
4.61% |
|
Other |
19 |
1.99% |
|
No answer |
96 |
10.05% |
Which of the following "atypical" benefits to you offer your employees?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Sabbaticals (both paid and unpaid) |
63 |
5.99% |
|
Pet insurance |
53 |
5.04% |
|
Childcare beyond assistance and referral options |
19 |
1.81% |
|
On-site fitness center |
155 |
14.75% |
|
Flex work arrangements |
283 |
26.93% |
|
Financial planning assistance |
163 |
15.51% |
|
Legal assistance program |
158 |
15.03% |
|
Commuter benefits |
136 |
12.94% |
|
Free or low-priced meals for employees |
121 |
11.51% |
|
Concierge service |
11 |
1.05% |
|
Other |
94 |
8.94% |
How do your benefits offerings (other than your health insurance package) compare with last year’s?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Less generous this year |
52 |
5.49% |
|
About the same |
774 |
81.65% |
|
More generous this year |
92 |
9.70% |
|
We don’t offer any other benefits besides health insurance |
2 |
0.21% |
|
We don’t offer any benefits |
5 |
0.53% |
|
Not sure |
6 |
0.63% |
|
Other |
4 |
0.42% |
|
No answer |
13 |
1.37% |
What changes do you think your organization’s benefits costs (other than health care costs) will experience in 2012?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Costs will rise significantly |
134 |
14.27% |
|
Costs will rise, but the change won’t be very significant |
395 |
42.07% |
|
Costs will stay pretty much the same with a small rise due to inflation |
309 |
32.91% |
|
Costs will go down |
24 |
2.56% |
|
Other |
18 |
1.92% |
|
No answer |
59 |
6.28% |
What types of changes are you planning to make to your benefits offerings (other than your health insurance package) in 2012?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
None |
458 |
49.14% |
|
We plan to make significant changes |
14 |
1.50% |
|
We plan to make moderate changes |
105 |
11.27% |
|
We plan to make minor changes |
237 |
25.43% |
|
Other |
40 |
4.29% |
|
No answer |
78 |
8.37% |
Do you offer benefits (other than health insurance) to your employees’ unmarried partners?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Yes |
190 |
20.47% |
|
No |
661 |
71.23% |
|
Not Sure |
28 |
3.02% |
|
Other |
27 |
2.91% |
|
No answer |
22 |
2.37% |
Is your organization private sector, nonprofit, or public sector (government)?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Private |
632 |
68.10% |
|
Public (government) |
103 |
11.10% |
|
Nonprofit |
191 |
20.58% |
|
No answer |
2 |
0.22% |
How many employees does your organization have?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Less than 50 |
189 |
20.68% |
|
50-200 |
334 |
36.54% |
|
201-500 |
151 |
16.52% |
|
More than 500 |
240 |
26.26% |
|
No answer |
0 |
0.00% |
Do you have unionized employees?
| Answer |
Count |
Percentage |
|
Yes |
143 |
15.70% |
|
No |
768 |
84.30% |
|
No answer |
0 |
0.00% |