Most employers offer flexible spending accounts for child and health care as an employee benefit. The federal government doesn't.
Most employers don't offer health care coverage to their retirees. The federal government does.
The Society for Human Resource Management last week published its 2002 benefits survey, which offers insight for federal managers trying to compete with the private sector in the war for talent-and for federal employees who want to know how their benefits stack up against their private sector counterparts.
Flexible spending accounts and health care coverage for retirees are among the 187 benefits that the society included in its survey. Human resources professionals at 551 organizations told the society whether they offered the benefits to employees.
Benefits ranged from paid holidays, which almost all employers offered, to policies allowing employees to bring pets to work, which 5 percent of employers offered.
A comparison of specific federal and private sector benefits produced mixed results. In some cases, the government offers benefits that few private sector firms offer, but in other cases, a majority of companies offer benefits not found in the federal government.
The Office of Personnel Management is studying federal pay and benefits as part of a civil service reform effort that has slowly been gaining steam in recent years. OPM is attempting to look at the total picture of federal compensation to determine what reforms-and potential benefits enhancements or reductions-are needed.
The survey found that the total cost of benefits equals about 30 percent of employees' salaries on average, ranging from 29 percent for small employers to 33 percent for large employers. The average total cost of benefits for federal agencies equaled 27.7 percent of salaries in fiscal 2000, according to an Office of Personnel Management document.
In the table below, the second column shows the percentage of employers that offer certain benefits, according to the society's survey. The third column shows whether the federal government offers each benefit. A "Y" indicates yes, an "N" indicates no.
After you check out the table, let us know what you think about federal benefits at bfriel@govexec.com. We'll publish your thoughts in an upcoming Pay and Benefits Watch.
| Benefit | Survey | Federal |
|---|---|---|
| Dependent care flexible spending account | 70% | N* |
| Flextime | 64% | Y |
| Domestic partner benefits | 23% | N |
| Relocation benefits | 60% | Y |
| Life insurance | 98% | Y |
| Dental insurance | 96% | N |
| Vision insurance | 73% | N |
| Medical flexible spending account | 69% | N |
| Long-term care insurance | 48% | Y |
| Retiree health care benefits | 31% | Y |
| Professional development opportunities | 94% | Y |
| Defined contribution retirement plan | 74% | Y |
| Shift premiums | 46% | Y |
| Transit subsidy | 13% | Y |
| Employee keeps frequent flyer miles | 79% | Y |
| Additional pay for weekend travel | 8% | N** |
| Paid holidays | 98% | Y |
| Floating holidays | 50% | N |
| Paid maternity leave | 17% | N |
| Paid paternity leave | 14% | N |
| Sick leave bank | 11% | Y |
* Some benefits not offered by most federal agencies are offered by agencies with special personnel authority, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Tennessee Valley Authority, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and others.
** There is some debate on this benefit. See Time is On Your Side in the April issue of Government Executive