Defined contribution plans, which specify employer and employee contributions, but not the level of future benefits, were available to 30 percent of all workers. Savings and thrift and deferred profit sharing were the most prevalent defined contribution plans. 3 Flexible benefits plans and reimbursement accounts. Flexible benefits, or cafeteria, plans let workers make benefit choices that were once made by their employers. These plans often allow an employee to determine how the employer's contribution is allocated among the benefits offered.
Employees are often able to purchase additional benefits on a salary reduction basis.
Six percent of all workers were eligible for such plans. 4 About a third of all workers were covered by employer sponsored reimbursement, or flexible spending, accounts in 1993-94. These accounts help employees pay for expenses, such as childcare and medical care deductibles, not covered by other benefit plans. Accounts may be financed with employer funds, employee pretax funds, or both. 5 Other benefits.