IWS Documented News DAILY POSTINGS

IWS Documented News Service

_______________________________

Institute for Workplace Studies-----------------Professor Samuel B. Bacharach

School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies

Cornell University

16 East 34th Street, 4th floor--------------------Stuart Basefsky

New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau

________________________________________________________________________

This service is supported, in part, by donations. Please consider making a donation by following the instructions at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/iws/news-bureau/support.html

 

EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – SEPTEMBER 2014 [10 December 2014]

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm

or

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf

[full-text, 23 pages]

 

Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $32.20 per hour worked in

September 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged

$22.13 per hour worked and accounted for 68.7 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $10.07

and accounted for the remaining 31.3 percent. Total employer compensation costs for private industry

workers averaged $30.32 per hour worked in September 2014. 

 

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey,

measures employer costs for wages and salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and state

and local government workers.

 

Compensation costs in state and local government

 

State and local government employers spent an average of $43.56 per hour worked for employee

compensation in September 2014. Wages and salaries averaged $27.89 per hour and accounted for 64.0

percent of compensation costs, while benefits averaged $15.67 per hour worked and accounted for the

remaining 36.0 percent. Total compensation costs for management, professional, and related workers

averaged $52.88 per hour worked. This major occupational group includes teachers, averaging $59.42

per hour worked. Total compensation for sales and office workers averaged $30.00 per hour worked and

service workers averaged $32.82. (See chart 1 and table 4.)

 

For state and local government employees, employer costs for insurance benefits averaged $5.21 per

hour, or 12.0 percent of total compensation. The largest component of insurance costs in September

2014 was health insurance, which averaged $5.09, or 11.7 percent of total compensation. In September

2004, employer costs for health insurance averaged $3.49 per hour worked, or 10.0 percent of total

compensation. (See chart 2 and table 3.) 

 

In September 2014, the average cost for retirement and savings benefits was $4.34 per hour worked in

state and local government, or 10.0 percent of total compensation. Included in this amount were

employer costs for defined benefit plans, which averaged $3.98 per hour (9.1 percent of total

compensation), and defined contribution plans, which averaged 36 cents (0.8 percent). In September

2004, employer costs for retirement and savings averaged $2.23 per hour worked, or 6.4 percent of total

compensation. (See chart 2 and table 3.) Defined benefit plans specify a formula for determining future

benefits, while defined contribution plans specify employer contributions but do not guarantee the

amount of future benefits.

 

Two components of benefit costs are paid leave and legally required benefits. Paid leave benefit costs

include vacation, holiday, sick leave, and personal leave. The average cost for paid leave was $3.18 per

hour worked for state and local government employees. Costs for legally required benefits, including

Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance (both state and federal), and workers'

compensation, averaged $2.58 per hour worked. (See table 3.)

 

The National Compensation Survey produces data on the percentage of state and local government

workers with access to and participation in employee benefit plans, including health and retirement and

savings plans. Detailed data on health and retirement plan provisions are available at www.bls.gov/ebs

 

AND MUCH MORE...including TABLES....

 

________________________________________________________________________

This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.