EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – SEPTEMBER 2015
Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian
workers averaged $33.37 per hour worked in September 2015, the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $22.88 per hour
worked and accounted for 68.6 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged
$10.48 and accounted for the remaining 31.4 percent. Total employer
compensation costs for private industry workers averaged $31.53 per hour worked
in September 2015.
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
$44.66 per hour worked for employee
compensation in September 2015. Wages and salaries
averaged $28.45 per hour and accounted for 63.7 percent of compensation costs,
while benefits averaged $16.21 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining
36.3 percent. Total compensation costs for management, professional, and
related workers averaged $54.02 per hour worked. This major occupational group
includes teachers, averaging $60.92 per hour worked. Total compensation for
sales and office workers averaged $30.83 per hour worked and service workers
averaged $34.02. (See chart 1 and table 4.)
For state and local government employees, employer costs
for insurance benefits averaged $5.34 per hour, or 12.0 percent of total
compensation. The largest component of insurance costs in September 2015 was
health insurance, which averaged $5.20, or 11.6 percent of total compensation.
(See chart 2 and table 3.)
In September 2015, the average cost for retirement and
savings benefits was $4.63 per hour worked in state and local government, or
10.4 percent of total compensation. Included in this amount were employer costs
for defined benefit plans, which averaged $4.26 per hour (9.5 percent of total compensation),
and defined contribution plans, which averaged 37 cents (0.8 percent). (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 $3.24 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 $2.63 per hour worked.
(See table 3.)
The National Compensation Survey also 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.
Benefit costs in
private industry
Private industry employer costs for paid leave averaged
$2.17 per hour worked or 6.9 percent of total compensation, supplemental pay
averaged $1.04 or 3.3 percent, insurance benefits averaged $2.59 or 8.2
percent, retirement and savings averaged $1.25 or 4.0 percent, and legally
required benefits averaged $2.51 per hour worked or 7.9 percent. (See table A and table 5.)
Table
A. Relative importance of employer costs
for employee compensation, September 2015
Compensation Civilian Private State and local component workers
industry government
_____________________________________________________________________________
Wages
and salaries
68.6% 69.7% 63.7%
Benefits 31.4 30.3 36.3
Paid leave 7.0 6.9 7.3
Supplemental pay 2.8 3.3 0.8
Insurance 8.9 8.2 12.0
Health benefits 8.5 7.7 11.6
Retirement and savings
5.2 4.0 10.4
Defined benefit 3.2 1.7 9.5
Defined contribution 2.0 2.2 0.8
Legally required 7.6 7.9 5.9
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data on total
compensation, wages and salaries, and benefits in private industry are produced
annually in the March reference period for 15 metropolitan areas. Selected
metropolitan area data were included in the March 2015 news release published
in June 2015. For further information about metropolitan area ECEC estimates
see: “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 by industry group are available at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsuphst.pdf and www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/sp/ecsuptc36.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/ececrse.pdf and 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. A 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 most recent 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.
Source: BLS
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