WASHINGTON, DC / October 12, 2011 — The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released its annual report from the National Compensation Survey (NCS) on the incidence and key provisions of selected employee benefits plans for civilian workers, private industry workers, and state and local government workers. “The NCS covers a broad range of benefits, allowing readers to see how their benefits packages compare with the market,” according to Philip Doyle, BLS Assistant Commissioner. Specifically, the report covers retirement benefits; health care benefits; life insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance benefits; holidays, vacation, sick, and other leave benefits; quality of life benefits; financial benefits; nonproduction bonuses; and unmarried domestic partner benefits.
This report is the third of three reports issued annually from the National Compensation Survey that focuses specifically on employee benefits.
The first report, containing highlights of the availability of benefits, was issued on July 26, 2011 and entitled “Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2011”, USDL-11-1112. It contained access, participation, and take-up rates for retirement, medical care, life insurance, and paid leave benefits as well as the share of premiums paid by employer and employee for medical plans. For the first time, this report included data on unmarried domestic partner benefits for defined benefit retirement survivor benefits and health care benefits.
The second report was a bulletin titled “Health and Retirement Plan Provisions in Private Industry in the United States, 2010”, Bulletin 2770, issued in August 2011. This bulletin includes data on health, defined benefit, and defined contribution plans.
About The Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. Its mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate essential economic information to support public and private decision-making. As an independent statistical agency, BLS serves its diverse user communities by providing products and services that are objective, timely, accurate, and relevant.
About the National Compensation Survey
The National Compensation Survey is an on-going comprehensive employer-based survey of approximately 14,500 establishments conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. NCS is an umbrella program that produces data on several topics including benefits, wages, and compensation cost trends. In addition to the benefits data, the NCS produces the Employment Cost Index (ECI), which is a principal federal economic indicator, and the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC). The ECI measures the percent change in the cost of wages and benefits while the ECEC reports on average costs per hour worked for employee benefits. In addition to the reports and websites mentioned in this release, the Compensation and Working Conditions Online Journal contains articles on various compensation topics and the Program Perspectives publication focuses on one benefit topic per issue.
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