U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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Emerging Benefits: Access to Health Promotion Benefits in the United States,

Private Industry, 1999 and 2005

by Eli Stoltzfus

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Originally Posted: July 26, 2006

In a 1988 article in the Monthly Labor Review, Janet L. Norwood, who was Commissioner of Labor Statistics at the time,

wrote, "New benefits are emerging in response to changing demographic and social patterns."1 Norwood further explained

that economic and social changes result in changes to employer-provided benefits and that over time, new benefits emerge

and become more prominent in the workplace.

The National Compensation Survey (NCS) collects and publishes data on the prevalence of a number of emerging benefits,

including health promotion benefits. In recent years, concern for preventive healthcare measures, such as smoking cessation

and a more active lifestyle, has given rise to greater employee access to health promotion benefits.2

This chart presentation shows the increase in employee access rates to employer provided health-promotion benefits in the

United States from 1999 to 2005. It also shows the 2005 access rates for selected groups of employees for three health

promotion benefits: employee assistance programs, wellness programs, and fitness centers. Employee assistance programs

provide employees with access to referral or counseling services for problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, and financial

and legal difficulties. Wellness programs provide employees with help in areas such as stress management, nutrition

education, and smoking cessation. Fitness centers include company onsite fitness facilities or employer subsidized fitness or

health club membership fees for employees.

• As chart 1 shows, from 1999 to 2005, employee access to employer-provided health promotion benefits for all worker

groups showed a marked increase: access to employee assistance programs increased from 33 to 40 percent, access

to wellness programs increased from 17 to 23 percent, and access to fitness centers increased from 9 to 13 percent. • In 2005, the most prevalent health promotion benefit was employee assistance programs. Wellness programs were

less prevalent, and the least prevalent benefit was fitness centers. This pattern holds true for all worker groups;

however, as can be seen in charts 2-5, among different worker groups, the rate of access varied widely.
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• Chart 2 shows that employees who worked in establishments with 100 or more employees had the highest access

rates for each of the three health promotion benefits--employee assistance programs, wellness programs, and fitness

centers--of any NCS-published worker group, while employees that worked in establishments with less than 100

employees had the lowest.

• Chart 3 shows that workers who earn $15 or more per hour had access to health promotion benefits at about twice the

rate of workers earning less than $15 per hour.
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• Chart 4 shows that white-collar workers were more likely to have access to health promotion benefits than blue-collar

workers.3

• Chart 5 shows that access rates for full-time occupations are close to the average for all workers. While part-time

workers have lower rates of access to health promotion benefits than full-time workers, they make up only 23 percent

of private industry workers.4

The factors that determine the percent of workers who have access to health promotion benefits in the occupational and

establishment categories shown above are somewhat overlapping. For example, workers in private industry earn, on

average, higher wages in larger establishments than do those in smaller establishments, and white-collar workers earn more,

on average, than blue-collar workers.5

NOTE: Standard errors have not been calculated for NCS benefits estimates. Consequently, none of the statistical inferences

made in this report could be verified by a statistical test.
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Eli Stoltzfus

Economist, Division of National Compensation Survey, Office of Field Operations, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 691-6506; E-mail: Stoltzfus.Eli@bls.gov

Notes

1 Janet L. Norwood, "Measuring the Cost and Incidence of Employee Benefits," Monthly Labor Review, August 1988, pp. 3-8; quote, p. 6; on

the Internet at: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1988/08/art1full.pdf.

2 As defined by the National Compensation Survey, an employee has access to a benefit plan if the employee is in an occupation that is

offered the plan. By definition, either all employees in an occupation have access to a benefit or none has access.

3 White-collar occupations include professional, technical, administrative, and sales occupations. For more information, see: National

Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, July 2004, Bulletin 2576 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2005),

Appendix B, on the Internet at: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0757.pdf.

4 See "National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2005," Summary 05-01, (Bureau of Labor Statistics,

August 2005), Technical Note, p. 32, on the Internet at: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0003.pdf.

5 National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, July 2004, Bulletin 2576 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, September

2005), table 2-2, pp. 16-24, on the Internet at: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0757.pdf.

Data for Chart 1. Percent of All Workers with Access to Health Promotion Benefits, 1999 and 2005

1999 2005

Employee Assistance Programs 33 40

Wellness Programs 17 23

Fitness Centers 9 13

Data for Chart 2. Percent of Workers with Access to Health Promotion Benefits by Size of Establishment, 2005

Characteristics Employee Assistance Programs Wellness programs Fitness Centers

All Workers 40 23 13

100 workers or more 66 40 24

1 to 99 workers 19 10 4

Data for Chart 3. Percent of Workers with Access to Health Promotion Benefits by Wage Group, 2005

Characteristics Employee Assistance Programs Wellness programs Fitness Centers

All Workers 40 23 13

Average wage $15 per hour or higher 55 35 20

Average wage less than $15 per hour 29 15 8

Data for Chart 4. Percent of Workers with Access to Health Promotion Benefits by Worker Characteristics, 2005

Characteristics Employee Assistance Programs Wellness programs Fitness Centers

All Workers 40 23 13

White-collar occupations 50 31 18

Blue-collar occupations 35 18 8
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Data for Chart 5. Percent of Workers with Access to Health Promotion Benefits by Worker Characteristics, 2005

Characteristics Employee Assistance Programs Wellness programs Fitness Centers

All Workers 40 23 13

Full time 44 26 14

Part time 26 14 8

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