GMCS Commentary: The following BLS statistical
data is an excellent resource for employers interested in comparing and
benchmarking their own compensation data against a national data set. The information within contains a detailed
cost per hour of the most common compensation components and is an excellent resource
for interested employers. Additionally,
for our clients engaged in collective bargaining this year, this is an excellent
resource to gauge/measure/compare your current wage and H&W benefit allocations
going into negotiations. For those
engaged in collective bargaining, following this link
will provide a detailed analysis and breakdown for bargaining unit employees.
GMCS clients receive a summarized report of this data to further assist their organizations
in collective bargaining.
EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – DECEMBER 2014
Private industry employers spent an average
of $31.32 per hour worked for total employee
compensation in December 2014, the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $21.72 per hour
worked and accounted for 69.4 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.60
and accounted for the remaining 30.6 percent. Total compensation costs
for state and local government workers averaged $43.95 per hour worked in
December 2014. Total employer compensation costs for civilian workers, which
include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged
$33.13 per hour worked in December 2014.
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a
product of the National Compensation Survey, measures employer costs for wages,
salaries, and employee benefits for nonfarm private and state and local
government workers.
Paid leave costs
in private industry:
Private industry employer costs for paid leave benefits
averaged $2.16 per hour worked in December 2014. Private industry costs for paid leave
include vacation leave which averaged $1.13 per hour worked, holiday leave
which averaged 66 cents, sick leave which averaged 26 cents, and personal leave
which averaged 12 cents in December 2014. Paid leave benefit costs are often directly
linked to wages; therefore, higher paid occupations or industries will
typically show higher estimates for this compensation component.
Private industry paid leave benefit costs
were highest for management, professional, and related occupations at $4.67 per
hour worked, or 8.4 percent of total compensation, in December 2014.
Costs were lowest among service occupations at 56 cents, or 3.9 percent of
total compensation. (See table 5.)
Included in this amount were employer costs for
vacations, holidays, sick leave, and personal leave.
The average cost per hour worked for paid leave by major
industry group ranged from $4.82 in
information to 41 cents in leisure and hospitality. (See table 6.)
Paid leave costs varied widely by full-time and part-time
status in private industry in December 2014. Paid leave costs for full-time
workers were $2.77 per hour worked versus 45 cents for part-time workers. (See chart 1 and table 12.)
For information on paid leave provisions, see National
Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2014, at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2014/benefits.htm.
Legally required
benefit costs in private industry:
The average cost for legally required
benefits was $2.50 per hour worked in private industry (8.0 percent of total
compensation) in December 2014. Social Security comprises the largest
legally required benefit cost component at $1.44 per hour or 4.6 percent of
total compensation. Legally required benefits such as Social Security and
Medicare are often directly linked to wages; therefore, higher paid occupations
or industries will typically show higher cost estimates for this compensation
component. (See table 5.)
Costs for other legally required benefits include
workers’ compensation which averaged 44 cents per hour worked (1.4 percent of
total compensation), state unemployment insurance which averaged 22 cents per
hour worked (0.7 percent), and federal unemployment insurance which averaged
just 4 cents per hour worked (0.1 percent). (See table 5.)
The average cost per hour worked for legally
required benefits by major industry group ranged from $3.80 for construction
industry workers to $1.40 per hour for leisure and hospitality. For
construction industry workers, workers’ compensation costs averaged $1.32 per
hour worked, significantly higher than all other major industry groups. The
proportion of total compensation represented by legally required benefits
ranged from 10.6 percent for leisure and hospitality workers to 6.4 percent for
both information and financial activities workers. (See chart 2 and table 6.)
Other benefit
categories in private industry:
Private industry employer costs averaged
$2.54 per hour worked for insurance benefits (life, health, and disability
insurance), or 8.1 percent of total compensation. In addition to
insurance, the other benefit categories were: supplemental pay (overtime and
premium, shift differentials, and nonproduction bonuses), which averaged $1.10
per hour worked (3.5 percent); and retirement and savings, which averaged $1.30
per hour (4.2 percent). (See table A and table 5.)
Table A. Relative
importance of employer costs for employee compensation, December 2014
Compensation Civilian Private
State and local
component workers industry government
______________________________________________________________________________
Wages and salaries 68.4% 69.4% 64.1%
Benefits 31.6 %
30.6%
35.9%
Paid
leave 7.0 6.9 7.3
Supplemental
pay 3.0 3.5 0.8
Insurance 8.8 8.1 11.9
Health
benefits 8.4 7.6 11.6
Retirement
and savings 5.3 4.2 10.1
Defined
benefit 3.3 2.0 9.2
Defined contribution 1.9 2.2 0.9
Legally required 7.6 8.0 5.9
______________________________________________________________________________
The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for March
2015 is scheduled to be released on
Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data on total
compensation, wages and salaries, and benefits in private industry are produced
annually for 15 metropolitan areas. Metropolitan area data will be included in
the March 2015 news release on June 10, 2015. For further information about metropolitan
area ECEC estimates see the September 2009 article: “BLS Introduces New
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation Data for Private Industry Workers in
15 Metropolitan Areas,” at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/cwc/bls-introduces-new-employer-costs-for-employee-compensation-data-for-private-industry-workers-in-15-metropolitan-areas.pdf.
Supplemental tables with occupational, establishment
size, and bargaining status series for detailed industries are available at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsuphst.pdf and ww.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsuptc33.pdf.
Relative standard errors for all cost estimates in the
most recent news release and supplementary tables are available at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsuprse.pdf.
Historical ECEC data are available in three listings, all
available at www.bls.gov/ect/#tables. The first historical listing covers data
for the March reference periods from 1986 to 2001. These data use the Standard
Industrial Classification (SIC) and Census of Population occupational
classification systems.
The second listing contains data for the March, June,
September, and December reference periods from March 2002 to December 2003.
These data are also based on the SIC and Census of Population occupational
classification systems. The final listing includes data for March 2004 to the
current reference period. These are
based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and Standard
Occupational Classification (SOC) systems.
Information in this release will be made available to
sensory impaired individuals upon request— Telephone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
BLS news releases, including the ECEC, are available
through an e-mail subscription service at:
Last Modified Date: March 11, 2015
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
No comments:
Post a Comment