For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, March 19, 2020				          USDL-20-0451

Technical information:	(202) 691-6199  •  ncsinfo@bls.gov  •  www.bls.gov/ect
Media contact:		(202) 691-5902  •  pressoffice@bls.gov


		      EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION – DECEMBER 2019


Private industry employers spent an average of $34.72 per hour worked for total employee compensation in
December 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $24.36
per hour worked and accounted for 70.1 percent of these costs, while benefit costs averaged $10.37 and
accounted for the remaining 29.9 percent. (See table 1.)

Within total benefits, supplemental pay costs averaged $1.19 per hour worked or 3.4 percent of total
compensation. Supplemental pay includes employer costs for employee shift differentials (extra payments
for working a non-traditional work schedule) that averaged $0.08 (0.2 percent), overtime and premium pay
(pay for work in addition to the regular work schedule) that averaged $0.31 (0.9 percent), and
nonproduction bonuses (such as holiday bonuses or end-of-year bonuses which are given at the discretion
of the employer and are not tied to a production formula) at $0.79 (2.3 percent). (See table 1.)

Supplemental pay costs for goods-producing industry workers averaged $1.74 per hour worked or 4.4
percent of total compensation, including $0.12 for shift differentials (0.3 percent), $0.70 for overtime
and premium pay (1.8 percent), and $0.92 (2.3 percent) for nonproduction bonuses. Supplemental pay costs
in goods-producing industries ranged from $1.36 (3.4 percent) in construction to $1.91 (4.9 percent) in
manufacturing. (See table 4 and the database query tool at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.)

Supplemental pay costs for service-providing industry workers averaged $1.07 per hour worked or 3.2
percent of total compensation, including $0.07 (0.2 percent) for shift differentials, $0.24
(0.7 percent) for overtime and premium pay and $0.77 (2.3 percent) for nonproduction bonuses.
Supplemental pay costs averaged $0.24 in the leisure and hospitality industry with a relative standard
error (RSE) of 13.1 percent corresponding to a 90 percent confidence interval of $0.19 to $0.29. In the
financial activities industry, supplemental pay costs averaged $2.92 with an RSE of 10.4 percent
corresponding to a 90 percent confidence interval of $2.42 to $3.42. (See table 4, the technical note,
and the database query tool at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.)

Within occupational groups, employer supplemental pay costs for management, professional, and related
workers averaged $2.22 per hour worked or 3.7 percent of total compensation including $0.12
(0.2 percent) for shift differentials, and $0.18 (0.3 percent) for overtime and premium pay. The largest
employer cost portion of supplemental pay was $1.92 (3.2 percent) for nonproduction bonuses. Employer
supplemental pay costs for natural resources, construction, and maintenance workers averaged $1.35
(3.7 percent). Shift differential costs were $0.05 (0.1 percent), nonproduction bonuses were $0.41
(1.1 percent), and overtime and premium pay $0.89 (2.4 percent). (See table 4 and the database query
tool at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.)

Among census regions, employer costs for supplemental pay ranged from $1.09 per hour worked or 3.6
percent of total compensation in the South to $1.36 (3.5 percent) in the Northeast. Employer costs for
shift differentials in the Midwest averaged $0.10 (0.3 percent) and $0.10 (0.2 percent) in the
Northeast. Overtime and premium pay costs were $0.29 (0.9 percent) in the South and $0.37 (1.1 percent)
in the Midwest regions. Employer costs for nonproduction bonuses ranged from $0.73 (2.4 percent) in the
South to $0.96 (2.4 percent) in the Northeast. (See table 7 and the database query tool at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.)

Supplemental pay employer costs averaged $1.14 per hour worked or 3.4 percent of total compensation for
nonunion workers and $1.72 (3.6 percent) for union workers. Overtime and premium costs were the largest
component of supplemental pay for union workers averaging $0.89 (1.8 percent), while nonproduction bonus
costs were the largest share of supplemental pay for nonunion workers averaging $0.81 (2.4 percent).
(See table 5 and the database query tool at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.)

Other highlights in private industry (See table 1.)

• Paid leave averaged $2.53 per hour worked or 7.3 percent of total compensation. Average costs for paid
leave components include $0.14 for personal leave (0.4 percent), $0.34 for sick leave (1.0 percent),
$0.75 for holiday leave (2.2 percent), and $1.30 for vacation leave (3.8 percent).
• Insurance benefits averaged $2.76 per hour worked or 8.0 percent of total compensation. Average costs
for insurance components include $0.04 for life insurance (0.1 percent), $0.04 for long-term disability
(0.1 percent), $0.07 for short-term disability (0.2 percent), and $2.61 for health insurance
(7.5 percent).
• Retirement and savings averaged $1.22 per hour worked or 3.5 percent of total compensation. Average
costs for retirement and savings components include $0.42 for defined benefit (1.2 percent) and $0.80
for defined contribution (2.3 percent).
• Legally required benefits averaged $2.66 per hour worked or 7.7 percent of total compensation,
including $2.05 or 5.9 percent of total compensation for social security and Medicare, $0.03 per hour
(0.1 percent) for federal unemployment insurance, $0.14 per hour (0.4 percent) for state unemployment
insurance, and $0.45 (1.3 percent) for workers’ compensation.

Note: The sum of individual compensation components may not equal totals due to rounding.

                                            TECHNICAL NOTE

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), a product of the National Compensation Survey,
provides the average employer cost for wages and salaries as well as benefits per employee hour worked.

The ECEC covers the civilian economy, which includes data from both private industry and state and local
government. Excluded from private industry are the self-employed, agricultural workers, and private
household workers. Federal government workers are excluded from the public sector.

All workers are included in the benefit cost estimates including those that do not have plan access or
do not participate. Costs are also affected by other factors such as cost sharing between employers and
employees, plan features, and plan generosity. For the latest information on the percentage of workers
with access to and participating in employer-sponsored benefit plans, including health care and
retirement and savings plans, see www.bls.gov/ebs.

The “National Compensation Measures,” provides additional details on the sample design, calculation
methodology, and resources explaining changes over time. (See www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ncs/home.htm.)
 
Additional ECEC estimates, including historical data, are available in the ECEC database query tool at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.

Sample size 
Data for this reference period were collected from a probability sample of approximately
25,500 occupational observations selected from a sample of about 6,300 private industry establishments
and approximately 7,800 occupational observations selected from a sample of about 1,400 state and local
government establishments that provided data at the initial interview.

Measures of reliability
Relative standard errors provide users a tool to judge the quality of an estimate to ensure that it is
within an acceptable range for their intended purpose. Available at www.bls.gov/web/ecec.supp.toc.htm
and database query tool at www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.

Comparisons
Compensation cost levels in state and local government should not be directly compared with levels in
private industry. Differences between these sectors stem from factors such as variation in work
activities and occupational structures. 

Publication focus
Topics of news releases for the upcoming reference periods are as follows:

• March 2020 - Compensation costs by wage percentile and 15 metropolitan areas
• June 2020 - Health benefit costs in private industry
• September 2020 - Compensation costs in  state and local government

For the 2020 ECEC release dates, see www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/ecec.htm.