Health insurance still the most costly employment benefit

August 16 2002 - Most New York metropolitan area employers (88%) say that healthcare insurance is the most expensive benefit they offer to employees, according to new research issued by The New York Times Job Market.

92% of hiring managers also report that healthcare insurance costs have increased the most of all employee benefits over the last three years. 93% expect the cost will continue to increase over the next three years.

Beta Research Corporation conducted the survey on behalf of The New York Times Job Market. They interviewed more than 450 hiring managers from businesses in the financial services, retail, technology, healthcare, and education sectors to identify current trends in employee benefits programs.

As well as typical company benefits such as healthcare, dental, disability and retirement plans, more employers are offering less well-established benefits such as flexible work hours, paternity leave, education assistance and severance pay. Fewer employers offer child/dependent care, subsidized commuting, adoption assistance, and long-term care insurance benefits.

Employee benefits offered by industry include:

Flex Time

Retail businesses are most likely of all the industry groups surveyed to offer flexible work arrangements. 85% of hiring managers in the retail industry say they offer employees flexible work hours, compared to: financial services (52%), technology (62%), healthcare (65%), and education (38%).

Paternity Leave

Maternity leave has been offered for years but an increasing number of companies are also offering paternity leave as well. Hiring managers from companies in the following industries say they offer paternity leave as an employee benefit: education (70%), healthcare (66%), financial services (64%), retail (54%) and technology (46%).

Retirement Benefits

Employee retirement benefits consisting of 401(k) and pension plans are offered by most employers. A significant majority of hiring managers in the education industry (81%) say they offer pension plans to employees compared to companies in the healthcare (70%), retail (64%), financial services (54%), and technology (44%) industries.

Vacation Time

Hiring managers across all industries surveyed say they offer employees an average of three to four weeks of paid vacation time. The exception is the retail industry where employees are offered an average of two to three weeks of paid vacation time