For a Limited Time receive a
FREE HR Report "Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management." This comprehensive special report will give you the information you need to know about these current HR challenges and how to most effectively manage them in your workplace.
Download Now
Managing Web Editor, HR.BLR.com
SAN DIEGO--Despite rising health care costs, most organizations continue to offer competitive benefit packages to their employees, according to survey results released by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
SHRM announced the results of its 2005 Benefits Survey at its 57th Annual Exposition and Conference, being held here this week.
The survey of 386 HR professionals covered 219 benefits offered by employers grouped into the categories of health care, family-friendly, housing, personal service, financial, travel, and leave and tracked trends over the past five years.
|
| The Society for Human Resource
Management's 57th Annual Conference & Exposition is taking place at the San Diego Convention Center.
|
Sixty-nine percent of the respondents indicated that the costs of their organization's voluntary benefits, including health care, retirement, etc., had remained about the same, compared with 2004. Twenty-eight percent reported that the costs of these benefits increased. Yet, despite increasing costs, SHRM said it does not appear that many organizations eliminated health care or prescription drug coverage, which often account for most of the cost increases to benefits.
"In general, we find that benefits are pretty stable," Deb Cohen, chief knowledge officer at SHRM, said at a news conference held to announce the results.
Among the survey's other findings:
- The percentage of employers offering dependent-care flexible spending accounts increased from 73 to 79 percent in 2005.
- HMO coverage increased from 51 to 53 percent; employer-funded health reimbursement accounts dropped from 18 to 17 percent.
- Domestic benefits for same-sex partners increased to 32 from 27 percent, while opposite-sex partner benefits at 33% remained about the same.
- Vision insurance increased from 71 to 80 percent.
- Prescription drug coverage remained at 97 percent.
- On-site vaccinations fell to 56 from 60 percent, which was anticipated following last autumn's flu vaccine debacle.
- Organizations offering paid family leave increased from 24 percent to 30 percent.
- Ninety-three percent of organizations continued to offer professional development opportunities to their employees.
Cohen said she was initially surprised to see a jump in the percentage of companies that matched employees charitable contributions, from 25 percent in 2004 to 34 percent in 2005. But she then realized it probably reflected the outpouring of support for victims of the tsunamis in southern Asia at the end of 2004. A similar jump occurred, she noted, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.