Employer cost survey released

Employers spent an average of $1.29 for employee retirement and savings plans for every hour worked in June 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. This accounted for 4.4 percent of total compensation.

Total compensation (wages and salaries and benefits) for civilian workers averaged $29.31 per hour worked in June 2009. Wages and salaries, which averaged $20.42, accounted for 69.7 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $8.89, accounted for the remaining 30.3 percent.

In addition to retirement and savings, the other benefit categories were: life, health, and disability insurance benefits, which averaged $2.50 (8.5 percent of total compensation); legally required benefits, including Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, which averaged $2.28 per hour (7.8 percent); paid leave benefits (vacations, holidays, sick leave and personal leave), which averaged $2.07 (7.1 percent); and, supplemental pay which averaged $0.76 (2.6 percent).