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CCH® BENEFITS — 7/12/07

Dependent Care Flex Spending Accounts Lead List Of Family Friendly Benefits

from Spencer’s Benefits Reports: A dependent care flexible spending account was the most commonly offered family-friendly benefit, according to the results of the Society for Human Resources Management’s (SHRM) 2007 Benefits Survey.

The survey, which garnered 590 responses from human resources professionals across the country, provided information about health care benefits; leave benefits; family-friendly benefits; and retirement, housing, personal service, financial, and travel benefits.

Most benefits remained the same in 2007 as in 2006, while others had minor fluctuations. Included were the following noticeable changes:

• Vision insurance increased from 73% to 79% (down from 80% in 2005).
• Transit subsidies increased from 13% to 16% at the same time that auto allowances/expenses decreased from 60% to 49%.
• Telecommuting programs increased from 26% to 33% for part-time employees; 45% to 48% for ad hoc increases; and 19% to 21% for full-time employees.
• Fitness center membership subsidy/reimbursement dropped from 37% to 30%.
• Programs for employees to bring a child to the office in emergency situations increased from 22% to 29%.
• Programs for a weekly casual dress day increased from 62% to 66%, at the same time that daily casual business attire decreased from 38% to 37%.
• Traditional pension plan programs (guaranteed pay based on years of service) decreased from 48% to 40%.
• HR respondents said that 70% of their organizations in 2007 provided an employee prenatal program in comparison to 82% in 2006.

Family-Friendly Benefits

The SHRM identified more than 30 different family-friendly benefits offered by respondents. Notable among these were the following, with the percent of respondents offering each program:

• Dependent care flexible spending account, 76%
• Life insurance for dependents, 65%
• Flextime, 58%
• Health care benefits for dependent grandchildren, 38%
• Domestic partner benefits (same-sex partners), 33%
• Domestic partner benefits (opposite-sex partners), 33%
• Paid family leave, 33%
• Health care benefits for foster children, 29%
• Family leave above and beyond required federal FMLA leave, 27%
• Parental leave above and beyond federal FMLA, 21%
• Adoption assistance, 20%

Health Care Offerings

The SHRM identified more than 50 different health care programs offered by respondents. The following list cites some of the more notable programs, along with the percentage of respondents offering them:

• Prescription drug program coverage, 95%
• Dental insurance, 94%
• Vision insurance, 79%
• Employee assistance program (EAP), 73%
• Sec. 125 medical flexible spending accounts, 70%
• Sec. 125 health care premium-only plan, 48%
• Long-term care insurance, 46%
• Health care insurance for part-time workers, 41%
• Retiree health care benefits, 35%
• Surcharges for spousal health care coverage, 33%
• Health savings accounts (HSAs), 29%
• Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), 29%
• Health care premium discount for getting annual health risk assessment, 12%
• Employer-matched contributions to HSAs 11%

Leave Benefits

The SHRM identified more than 20 leave programs offered by respondents. Notable among these were the following programs, with the percent of respondents offering each:

• Long term disability, 88%
• Short term disability, 81%
• Paid sick leave, 74%
• Paid time off plan (sick, vacation and personal days all in one plan), 63%
• Paid military leave (beyond what may be required by law), 29%
• Time bank of vacation leave (donate vacation leave to other employees), 22%
• Paid adoption leave, 20%
• Paid maternity leave (other than what is covered by STD)
• Time bank of sick leave (donate sick leave to other employees), 16%

Retirement Benefits

In a section of the survey describing financial and compensation benefits, the SHRM identified the following retirment programs, with the percent of respondents offering each program:

• Defined contribution retirement plan, 83%
• Employer match for defined contribution retirement plan, 74%
• Traditional defined benefit plan (provides retirees with guaranteed payment based on years of service and pay), 40%
• Retirement planning services, 37%
• Automatic enrollment into defined contribution retirement plan (new employees enrolled unless they opt out), 32%
• Profit-sharing plan, 32%
• Roth 401(k) savings plan, 16%
• Stock purchase plan, 16%
• SERP (supplemental executive retirement plan), 15%
• Cash balance plan, 7%

For more information, visit http://www.shrm.org/surveys.

For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH Pension Plan Guide, CCH Employee Benefits Management, and Spencer's Benefits Reports.

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