TEXT
Table 1.  Full-time employees participating in selected employee benefit
Table 2.  Part-time1 employees participating in selected employee benefit

 
Technical contact:                           USDL: 94-73
EBS Staff      (202)606-6222
 
Media contact:                               FOR RELEASE: 10 A.M. (EST)
Kathyrn Hoyle  (202)606-5902            Wednesday, February 16, 1994
 
                 BLS REPORTS ON EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN STATE
                        AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, 1992
 
     Nine out of ten full-time workers in state and local governments
participated in employer-provided health care plans, according to 1992
survey data issued by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor
Statistics.  For the first time, the majority of workers with health care
benefits were covered by a non-traditional plan, as shown below:
                                                  Percent
               Total with health care benefits                 100
                 Traditional fee-for-service plan                43
                 Non-traditional plans                      57
                   Health maintenance organization(HMO)               27
                   Preferred provider organization(PPO)               29
                   Exclusive provider organization(EPO)                 1
 
     Forty-three percent of full-time employees with health care benefits
were required to contribute toward individual coverage; their contribution
to monthly premiums averaged $29.  Seventy-two percent were required to
contribute toward family coverage at an average of $139 per month.
 
     The 1992 survey provides information on the incidence and
characteristics of benefit plans for an estimated 14 million employees in
state and local governments.  An estimated 12.5 million full-time and 1.5
million part-time employees were covered by the survey.
 
                    BENEFITS FOR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES IN
                        STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
 
     As in 1990, the last time BLS conducted this survey, a large majority
of full-time workers in state and local governments in 1992 were provided
paid sick leave, retirement plans, and life and health insurance.  Paid
holidays and vacations also were widely available to full-time government
workers, except teachers.  (See table 1.)  The 1992 survey provides
information on recent trends for these and other employee benefits, which
are summarized below.
 
 
Health Benefits
     About nine-tenths of the full-time employees in state and local
governments who received employer-provided health care benefits in 1992
were covered by "managed care" provisions -- measures aimed at controlling
health care usage and cost.  Included are all workers covered by HMOs and
PPOs, as well as four out of five employees covered by traditional fee-for-
service plans.
 
     Fee-for-service plans, the traditional means of providing health care
benefits, covered 43 percent of full-time workers with health care benefits
in 1992.  Individuals receive medical care from doctors and facilities that
they choose; the plan reimburses either the provider or the individual for
some or all of the cost.  Approximately four-fifths of the workers covered
by such plans, however, were required to seek approval from their plan
before certain types of health care services were received.  Such approval,
broadly termed managed care, typically includes requirements for plan
certification prior to hospitalization and second surgical opinions.  When
such requirements are not adhered to, the plan reduces or eliminates
payments.
 
     Virtually all participants in fee-for-service plans were subject to an
annual deductible that averaged $173 per year.  Additionally, four-fifths
of these participants were in plans that had an annual limit on individual
out-of-pocket expenses that averaged $908 per year.  Family out-of-pocket
expense limits, when applicable, averaged $1,856 per year.  Out-of-pocket
expense limits are in addition to deductibles payable by employees.
 
     PPOs covered 29 percent of full-time workers with medical care
benefits.  PPOs are a type of fee-for-service plan that offers individuals
a limited choice of health care providers.  If the individual chooses a
doctor, dentist, hospital, or other facility not on the preferred provider
list, the plan pays a smaller share of the cost.  The 1992 survey
presented, for the first time, data that compares cost differences incurred
when using a preferred provider as opposed to a non-preferred provider.
Nearly all workers covered by a PPO had a different percent of charges paid
by the plan based on who provided the services.  For example, a plan might
pay 90 percent of charges for hospital services when received from a
preferred  provider and 80 percent for the same services when received from
a non-preferred provider.  Additionally, physician services through a
preferred provider may require only a modest copayment, for example, $10
per office visit; visits to doctors not on the preferred provider list were
commonly covered under major medical benefits that usually required
satisfaction of an annual deductible and then paid 80 percent of
physicians' charges.
 
     HMOs, which covered 27 percent of full-time workers with medical care
benefits, provide prepaid services to patients from a selected group of
doctors and facilities.  Care is often free of charge or is available for a
fee, for example, $10 or less for an office visit.
 
     One additional type of health care plan, exclusive provider
organizations, covered 1 percent of health care participants.  These plans
have arrangements with specified providers to offer medical services at
lower prices, just like PPOs.  Medical care received from non-exclusive
providers will not be paid for by the plan.
 
Life and Disability Insurance
 
     Life insurance protection, typically paid for entirely by employers,
was provided to 9 out of 10 full-time workers in state and local
governments in 1992.  About three out of five life insurance plan
participants had benefits specified as flat amounts, averaging nearly
$16,000.  Virtually all of the remaining participants were provided life
insurance benefits based on salary, typically one or two times annual pay.
 
     Sickness and accident insurance plans, which provide either a
percentage of a worker's pay or a flat amount per week during a period of
disability, were available to about one-fifth of full-time workers in the
1992 state and local government survey.  A typical sickness and accident
insurance plan imposes a 7-day waiting period before benefits (commonly 50
or 60 percent of regular pay) begin, with payments continuing for 26 weeks.
 
     When an employee is disabled for a longer period of time, or
indefinitely, income replacement benefits may be available through a long-
term disability insurance plan.  Just over one-fourth of full-time
employees in State and local governments in 1992 participated in a long-
term disability insurance plan; three out of four of these workers had
coverage fully paid by their employer.  Typical long-term disability
insurance plans provided payments equal to 50, 60, or 67 percent of pre-
disability pay.
 
Retirement plans
     Nine-tenths of the full-time workers in state and local governments --
about 11 million workers -- had retirement coverage through defined benefit
pension plans.  These plans, which specify a formula for determining an
employee's annuity, were widely available to all government employees.  Two-
thirds of the employees covered by pension plans were eligible for normal
(unreduced) benefits at age 55 or earlier upon meeting a service
requirement, usually 30 years.
 
     Benefits provided almost always were based on a terminal earnings
formula, which provides a pension equal to a percentage of the employee's
annual pay averaged over the years with the highest income.  Pension
benefits averaged 1.9 percent of earnings times years of service.  Nearly
three out of four participants were required to help finance their pension
plans, commonly contributing 6 to 9 percent of earnings.
 
     About 1 in 10 full-time employees participated in one or more defined
contribution plans in 1992.  These plans, which usually specify the
employer's contribution but cannot predetermine the employee's actual
amount of benefits, include savings and thrift and money purchase pension
plans.  Most defined contribution plans required employee contributions.
 
     Forty-five percent of full-time employees participated in salary
reduction arrangements, such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans.  In such
arrangements, income taxes on contributions to a retirement plan are
deferred until the contributions are withdrawn.  Unlike most salary
reduction plans found in the private sector, more than half of the
employees with a salary reduction arrangement participated in either
defined benefit or money purchase plans in which they were required to make
pretax contributions to the plan.  Most of the remaining participants were
in freestanding plans, that is, individual employee accounts with employee
pretax funds but no employer contributions.
 
Family-Related Benefits
     The care of family members was addressed by state and local
governments in a number of ways in 1992.  Parental leave plans provide time
off for mothers and fathers to care for newborn or newly adopted children.
Such plans, as defined for the survey, are separate from vacations, which
also may be used for parenting purposes.  Nearly three-fifths of full-time
employees had unpaid maternity leave available, with the maximum leave
averaging about 11 months.  Just over two-fifths of full-time employees had
unpaid paternity leave available.  Paid parental leave was rare.  These
data on parental leave were collected prior to the passage of the Family
and Medical Leave Act in February 1993.
 
     Eight percent of full-time employees in state and local governments
were eligible for child care benefits subsidized by their employer.  This
benefit includes both on-site or near-site child care facilities and
reimbursement of employee child care expenses.  A more prevalent means of
assisting employees with child care expenses was through reimbursement
accounts (commonly known as Flexible Spending Accounts, or FSAs) which
characteristically cover dependent care, health care premiums, or out-of-
pocket health care expenses.  One-half of full-time employees were eligible
for such accounts, up from 31 percent in 1990.  Most often, these accounts
are funded solely by employee pretax dollars.
 
                     BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME WORKERS IN
                        STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
 
     Paid sick leave was available to nearly one-half the  part-time State
and local government workers, while about two of five participated in a
health care plan and one-half in a retirement plan.  (See table 2.)
Because of the limited incidence of benefits among part-time workers, plan
provisions could not be examined to the same extent as for full-time
workers.
 
     About 3 of 10 part-time employees in State and local governments in
1992 received paid vacations and paid holidays.  When these benefits were
provided, they were typically similar to those of full-time workers, but
prorated based on the work schedule of the part-time employee.
 
                              TECHNICAL NOTE
 
     The Employee Benefits Survey (EBS) data are collected jointly with the
BLS Employment Cost Index (ECI).  The ECI provides quarterly data on the
changes in employer's cost of wages, salaries, and employee benefits.  In
addition, data on the cost per hour worked of compensation components are
published annually from the ECI.
 
     The sample of establishments from which EBS and ECI data are collected
is updated periodically.  Each year, new sample establishments in selected
industries are introduced into the survey, while older sample
establishments are removed from the survey.  In addition, a group of newly
opened establishments in all industries is included in the EBS sample to
ensure representation of the current mix of small establishments.
Benchmark adjustments were applied to the data to estimate current
employment in each industry.  More details on sampling and estimation
procedures will appear in the Technical Note to Employee Benefits in State
and Local Governments, 1992, which will be published this spring.
 
     Benefits data are available for all covered employees combined and
separately for three broad occupational groups:  White-collar, except
teachers; teachers; and blue-collar and service employees.  Definitions of
these occupational groups may be found in the tables at the end of this
release.  Data also are available for full-time and part-time employees.
Workers were classified as either full time or part time in accordance with
practices of surveyed establishments.  The occupational groups are
different from prior government surveys.
 
     The Employee Benefits Survey is collected on a 2-year cycle.  During
1993, data were collected on benefits provided to workers in medium and
large private establishments (those employing 100 workers or more).  The
survey of state and local governments is being conducted again in 1994.
 
Availability of Survey Results
     Detailed tabulations of the benefit provisions, in addition to
estimates of sample error on all data, are currently being developed.  Upon
completion of a thorough analysis of these data, the results will be
published in the bulletin, Employee Benefits in State and Local
Governments, 1992.
 
     Benefits data for employees in medium and large private establishments
(those employing 100 workers or more) are currently available in Employee
Benefits in Medium and Large Private Establishments, 1991 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Bulletin 2422, May 1993).  Data for employees in small private
establishments will be forthcoming in Employee Benefits in Small Private
Establishments, 1992 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).  Combined 1990-91 data,
which provide information on benefits provided to all workers in private
industry and state and local governments, are available in BLS Reports on
Employee Benefits in the United States, 1990-91 (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Summary 93-4, June 1993.)
 
Table 1.  Full-time employees participating in selected employee benefit
programs, state and local governments, United States, 19921 (In percent)
 
                              |           |White-collar|          | Blue-collar
      Employee                | All       | employees, | Teachers |    and
      benefit                 |full-time  |    except |           |  service
      program                 |employees  |  teachers2 |          | employees3
 
   Paid time off
Holidays                       |       75  |        88 |        38 |         91
Vacations                     |       67  |        87 |        10 |          91
Personal leave                |       38  |        31 |        55 |          33
Lunch period                  |       10  |         6 |        14 |          13
Rest period                   |       53  |        68 |        20 |          64
Funeral leave                 |       65  |        64 |        61 |          70
Jury duty leave               |       97  |        97 |        98 |          97
Military leave                |       83  |        87 |        76 |          85
Sick leave                    |       95  |        94 |        97 |          94
Maternity leave               |        1  |       (4) |         1 |           1
Paternity leave               |        1  |       (4) |         1 |           1
 
  Unpaid time off
Maternity leave               |       59  |        59 |        63 |          54
Paternity leave               |       44  |        46 |        44 |          40
 
  Insurance
Sickness and accident
  insurance                   |       22  |        25 |        15 |          23
Long-term disability
  insurance                   |       28  |        30 |        33 |          22
Medical care                  |       90  |        91 |        90 |          89
Dental care                   |       65  |        65 |        65 |          64
Life insurance                |       89  |        89 |        87 |          89
 
  Retirement
All retirement5               |       93  |        93 |        94 |          93
Defined benefit pension       |       87  |        86 |        89 |          87
Defined contribution          |        9  |        10 |         8 |           9
  Uses of funds:
    Retirement6               |        8  |         9 |         8 |           9
    Capital accumulation7     |       (4) |         1 |       (4) |         (4)
 Types of plans:
   Savings and thrift         |        2  |         3 |         1 |           2
   Money purchase pension     |        7  |         7 |         7 |           8
 
Other benefits
Flexible benefits plans       |        5  |         5 |         7 |           4
Reimbursement accounts        |       50  |        55 |        44 |          48
Child care                    |        8  |        10 |         6 |           7
1 Except for maternity and paternity leave and reimbursement accounts, benefits
paid for entirely by the employee were excluded from the tabulations.
2 Includes professional, technical, executive, administrative, management, and
clerical occupations, except teachers.
3 Includes production, craft, repair, laborer, and service occupations.
4 Less than 0.5 percent.
5 Includes defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution retirement
plans.  Some employees participated in both types of plans.
6 Includes money purchase pension and savings and thrift plans in which employer
contributions must remain in the participant's account until retirement age,
death, disability, separation from service, age 59-1/2, or hardship.
7 Includes plans in which participants may withdraw employer contributions from
their accounts without regard to the conditions listed in footnote 6.
 
Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals.
Table 2.  Part-time1 employees participating in selected employee benefit
programs, state and local governments, United States, 19922 (In percent)
 
 
         Employee                    |               All
         benefit                     |          part-time|
         program                     |          employees
                                     |
     Paid time off                   |
Holidays                             |               34
Vacations                            |               26
Personal leave                       |               17
Lunch period                         |                2
Rest period                          |               31
Funeral leave                        |               34
Jury duty leave                      |               52
Military leave                       |               38
Sick leave                           |               45
Maternity leave                      |                1
Paternity leave                      |                1
                                     |
     Unpaid time off                 |
Maternity leave                      |               32
Paternity leave                      |               24
                                     |
     Insurance                       |
Sickness and accident                |
  insurance                          |               14
Long-term disability                 |
  insurance                          |                9
Medical care                         |               43
Dental care                          |               37
Life insurance                       |               41
                                     |
     Retirement                      |
All retirement3                      |               51
Defined benefit pension              |               48
Defined contribution                 |                4
                                     |
     Other benefits                  |
Flexible benefits plans              |                2
Reimbursement accounts               |               25
Child care                           |                2
                                     |
 
1 Employees are classified as part time in accordance with practices of surveyed
establishments.
2 Except for maternity and paternity leave and reimbursement accounts, benefits
paid for entirely by the employee were excluded from the tabulations.
3 Includes defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution retirement
plans.  Some employees participated in both types of plans.
 
Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals.