2 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999

ALLAN P. BLOSTIN

Allan P. Blostin is an economist in the

Division of Compensation Data Analysis

and Planning, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 606-6240

E-mail: Blostin_A@bls.gov

An Overview of the

EBS and the NCS

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has been compiling data

on employee benefits since the 1950s. Current plans are

to enhance and continue these surveys into the

21st century.

The Employee Benefits Survey

(EBS) is an annual survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor

Statistics (BLS) to provide data on the

incidence and detailed provisions of

major employee benefits in the public

and private sectors. This article examines the survey’s structural changes

since its inception, reviews the beneficial effects these changes produced,

describes the integration of the EBS

with the National Compensation Survey (NCS), and summarizes the

Bureau’s outreach efforts to enhance

the survey to better meet users needs.

Early efforts and structural

changes of the survey

The Bureau has been compiling data

on employee benefits on a regular basis since the 1950s. The direct predecessors to the EBS were the Bureau’s

“Digest of Selected Health and Insurance Plans” and the “Digest of Selected Pension Plans.” The digests

were published beginning in 1955 and

continued through 1979; they detailed

benefit plans sponsored by large companies in major industries. Separate

information was provided for office

and non-office hourly and salaried

employees. There was no data analysis. Some of the principal plan features in the health digests were maternity benefits, allowances for surgical

and medical care, basic and major

medical benefits, and vision care. The

pension digest included details such

as benefit formulas, normal retirement

This is the first of a series of three

related articles that appear in this issue of Compensation and Working

Conditions. Together, they trace the

Bureau’s Employee Benefits Survey

from its inception and explain how it

will become part of the Bureau’s National Compensation Survey. Two articles focusing on health and retirement benefits follow this overview.

They discuss how these benefits developed as part of the Employee Benefits Survey and how each will be enhanced with its incorporation into the

National Compensation Survey.
 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999 3

requirements, early retirement requireEBS and NCS Overview

ments and reductions, and disability

benefits.

The successor to the digests was the

Level of Benefits Survey (LOB),

which began in 1977 as an integral

part of the Federal pay comparability

process established by the Federal

Reform Act of 1962 and later by the

Federal Pay Comparability Act of

1970. The purpose of LOB was to

provide detailed data on private sector employee benefits to the Office of

Personnel Management (OPM).

Combining LOB data with wage data

from the Bureau’s National Survey of

Professional, Administrative, Technical, and Clerical Pay helped OPM to

compare compensation of private sector and Federal employees.1 In 1979,

the LOB survey was upgraded from a

test study to a pilot project, eventually becoming known as the EBS.

Between 1979 and 1986, the EBS

included medium and large private

establishments—those employing at

least 50, 100, or 250 workers, depending on the industry. (See table.) Most

service industries were excluded as

were establishments in Alaska and

Hawaii and part-time employees everywhere. Data were collected for

three broad occupational groups: Professional/administrative, technical/

clerical, and production. During this

period, the EBS represented 24 percent of the non-Federal, nonfarm

workforce. In 1987, the survey was

expanded to represent a larger share

of the civilian workforce by including a one-time survey of State and local governments employing 50 or

more workers, increasing survey coverage to 32 percent of the non-Federal, nonfarm workforce. Then, in

1988, it was expanded to include all

service industries and all private sector establishments with 100 or more

employees. This expansion increased

the survey coverage to 40 percent.

Starting in 1990, EBS data were

collected in concert with data for the

Employment Cost Index program. As

part of the integration, Alaska and

Hawaii were added to the survey; coverage was expanded to include virtually all occupations; and small private

establishments (those employing

fewer than 100 workers) and part-time

workers were included. In addition,

State and local government employees were surveyed on a regular basis.

Medium and large private establishments were surveyed in odd-numbered

years and small private establishments

and State and local governments in

even-numbered years. (There have

been two exceptions in this cycle: The

survey on State and local governments

was not conducted in 1996, and the

survey on small private establishments

was not conducted in 1998.) Excluded

from the survey are the self-employed,

major stockholders, members of a corporate board who are not otherwise

officers of the corporation, volunteers,

unpaid workers, family members who

are paid token wages, the permanently

Development of the Employee Benefits Survey and the survey’s publications, 1979-97

1979-86 24

1987 32

1988-89 40

1990-97 96

1 Civilian workforce refers to a non-Federal, nonfarm workforce.

Scope included private establishments employing

at least 50, 100, or 250 workers depending on

the industry

Excluded most service industries

Excluded Alaska and Hawaii

Excluded part-time employees

Published one-time survey of State and local

governments with 50 or more employees

Expanded scope to include establishments with

100 employees or more

Expanded scope to include all service industries

Expanded scope to include part-time employees

Expanded scope to include Alaska and Hawaii

Expanded scope to include small private

establishments—those employing fewer than

100 employees

Expanded scope to include all State and local

governments

Employee Benefits in Medium and Large

Private Establishments, annually beginning

in 1979

Employee Benefits in State and Local

Governments, 1987

Employee Benefits in Medium and Large

Private Establishments, 1988, 1989

Employee Benefits in Medium and Large

Private Establishments, 1991, 1993, 1995

Employee Benefits in State and Local

Governments, 1990, 1992, 1994

Employee Benefits in Small Private Establishments, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996 (not

published yet)

All-economy incidence data, 1990 through

1996 (In the last several years, these

estimates have appeared in Compensation

and Working Conditions)

Percent of

civilian

workforce1

covered

Year Coverage Major publication
4 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999

disabled, partners in unincorporated

firms, and U.S. citizens working overseas. From 1991 through 1998, 96

percent of the non-Federal, nonfarm

workforce were covered by the survey.

Publishing survey results

The expansion of workforce coverage

increased the importance of published

estimates from the EBS. The survey

now reports on trends in employee

benefits in all sectors of the economy

on a regular basis. (See table.) The

survey’s estimates allow for comparison of benefit coverage between various segments of the economy. Combining data from surveys of private

industries and State and local governments allows tabulations of alleconomy estimates.

In all its iterations, the EBS has

collected and analyzed data on benefits for which the employer pays the

total cost or the cost is shared between

the employer and the employee. Plans

paid in full by employees are not included, although there are a few exceptions to this rule. Because the guarantee of insurability and availability

of coverage at group premium rates

can be considered a benefit, the survey provides data on the availability

of employee-paid post retirement

medical care and life insurance, dependent life insurance, and supplemental life insurance.

Regular annual publications of the

Bureau have been the major medium

used to disseminate EBS data. However, other media are also extensively

used, including news releases and articles in BLS periodicals, such as the

Monthly Labor Review and Compensation and Working Conditions. EBS

data are also available on the Internet.2

Introduction of the National Compensation Survey

Until recently, the EBS was one of four

compensation programs within the

Office of Compensation and Working

Conditions. The other three programs

were the Employment Cost Index

(ECI), the Employer Costs For Employee Compensation (ECEC), and the

Occupational Compensation Survey

(OCS). The ECI measures the change

in employer costs for employee compensation. The ECEC measures the

average employer cost per employee

hour worked for wages, salaries, and

benefits.3 The OCS estimates pay for

a multitude of occupations and occupational levels in various metropolitan areas nationwide.4

The National Compensation Survey

is an effort to produce a more comprehensive survey by combining these

four programs into a single survey program. The NCS goals include eliminating the duplication of data collection and processing techniques that

exist among these programs and improving the quality and utility of published data. The NCS will produce

wage and benefits data for localities,

geographic regions, and the United

States as a whole.5

Testing for the NCS began in 1994

and results were published in 1996 and

1997. These initial tests centered on

job classification and wage collection,

processing, and estimation issues. In

1998, measures of benefit costs were

included. Benefit incidence (the percentage of workers participating in

selected employee benefit programs)

and provisions will be included in

1999 and 2000, respectively.6

The integration of the EBS with the

NCS will bring improvements to the

Bureau’s published benefits data. NCS

occupational characteristics (such as

full- and part-time and union and nonunion status) and wage data will be

collected from a sample of 36,000

units. The detailed benefit costs and

incidence of benefits data (such as the

percentage of workers participating in

selected employee benefits programs,

like health and life insurance) will be

collected from a sub-sample of approximately 12,000 employer units.

This represents about a 70-percent increase in the size of the sample as compared to the sample providing data for

the ECI, ECEC, and EBS. This larger

sample will provide better estimates

and expand the publishable data. For

example, incidence data will be published for more establishment size

groups; more detailed estimates by

industry, occupation, and region will

be available; the incidence of employee

benefits for the entire economy will be

available every year instead of every

other year; and, the data will be published in a more timely fashion. Incidence data will be published 4 to 5

months after the survey date each year,

coinciding with estimates of employer

costs for employee benefits (publication coordination between these two

surveys was not possible before).

Along with enhancements to published incidence estimates, improvements will also be made to the published estimates of benefit plan

provision details. These plan details

describe the actual value or services

received by the employees and the limits and restrictions to receiving them.

Beginning in the year 2000, the NCS

will capture detailed benefit plan provisions, first for employee leave plans

and life and disability insurance plans,

and about a year later for health and

retirement plans. Although the frequency with which to publish estimates of benefit plan provisions is still

to be determined, these estimates will

relate to the entire civilian non-Federal, nonfarm economy each year.

Under the NCS, detailed benefit cost

data will be linked for the first time to

specific benefit plans and provisions.

This will enable analysis of plan costs

relative to specific provisions.

Another important enrichment under the NCS will be the ability to initiate both quick issue surveys and special studies related to wages, benefit

costs, and benefit provisions. This

ability will allow data to be published

on topical benefit issues in a more

timely fashion. Medical savings accounts are a good example of an

emerging benefit that could be studied quickly.

The NCS outreach program

The NCS outreach program targets

data users from many professional disciplines: Academia, government, research organizations, unions, and the

media. The Bureau regularly main-
 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999 5

tains contact with data users to deterEBS and NCS Overview

mine the types of published data that

interests them. Vehicles employed to

determine user interests include:

• Special conferences to exchange

ideas

• Regularly scheduled meetings

with representatives from business and organized labor to present information and receive input (For example, the Bureau

meets twice a year with representatives from the Business and

Labor Research Advisory Councils7 )

• Visits with compensation organizations to present recent publications and explain development projects

• Articles in non-Bureau publications

• An Internet site at:

http://stats.bls.gov/comhome.htm

In addition, as part of the NCS outreach program, research was conducted to determine the level of detail

required to analyze health and retirement plan provisions. This research

consisted of informal contacts with

data users from the health and retirement business communities. These

data users were asked to comment on

the current details published by the

survey and to suggest alternative ways

to present the data. The research results are discussed in the following two

articles.

Summary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has

completed the planning and most of

the design to continue surveying the

incidence and characteristics of employee benefits into the next century.

From 1979 through 1997, the EBS

published estimates of the incidence

of a wide variety of benefits and the

detailed provisions for many of them.

Survey coverage has expanded over

this period to include 96 percent of

the civilian non-Federal, nonfarm

economy. Beginning in 1999, these

estimates of incidence and plan provisions will be published under the

NCS, an integrated program that coordinates multiple processes, makes

efficient use of establishments in the

survey, and produces more comprehensive estimates than were possible

from its predecessor programs. The

design of the NCS program to capture and disseminate data on plan provision details is nearly complete and

the requisite systems development is

ongoing.

It has always been the policy of the

Bureau of Labor Statistics to present

the most timely and relevant data.

The implementation of the NCS is a

major evolutionary step towards presenting a more complete picture of

compensation programs in all sectors

of the economy. While it is a major

step, the NCS surely will not be the

final step in this goal. It is expected

that the NCS will undergo revisions

to keep pace with technology and future developments in the compensation field.

1

 See Robert N. Frumkin and William J.

Wiatrowski, “Bureau of Labor Statistics Takes a

New Look at Employee Benefits,” Monthly Labor Review, August 1982, p. 41. 2

 Additional information about the EBS can

be obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Internet site at:

http://stats.bls.gov/ebshome.htm 3

 Additional information about the ECI and

the ECEC can be obtained from the Bureau of

Labor Statistics Internet site at:

http://stats.bls.gov/ecthome.htm 4

 Additional information about the OCS can

be obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Internet site at:

http://stats.bls.gov/ocshome.htm 5

 Additional information about the NCS can

be obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Internet site at:

http://stats.bls.gov/comhome.htm 6

 William J. Wiatrowski, “Bureau of Labor

Statistics New National Compensation Survey,”

Compensation and Benefits Review, September/

October 1998, p. 29. This article provides a comprehensive look at the development, design, and

goals of the National Compensation Survey. 7

 The Business Research Advisory Council and the Labor Research Advisory Council

are formally constituted boards that provide

technical advice to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on problems and issues in data collection and reporting from the perspective of their

constituencies.