Employee Benefits Survey
Welcome to the step-by-step guide on how to use the Employee Benefits Survey one-screen query system
Employee Benefits Survey: The Employee Benefits Survey (EBS) is a discontinued survey and provided incidence and provisions of selected benefits provided by employers to their employees. The survey collected data from private sector and state and local government establishments. The estimates are presented as a percentage of employees who participated in a certain benefit, or as an average benefit provision (for example, the average number of paid holidays provided to employees per year).
This tool lets users query the BLS databases for specific data series. For each survey and program, make a selection for each characteristic in the order listed. As you make your selection, the remaining characteristics will filter to show only choices where data are available. After choosing the series, click on “Add to selection.” If you need more data series, repeat the steps of choosing the data series you need. After you've finished finding the data series you need, click on the “Get Data” button to retrieve the data, and an HTML table with data for the most recent 10 years will display. If you desire a different time period or format, you may modify the options on the data display page, or click on the “More Formatting Options” button for additional options on refining the data retrieval results. Note: Users may not retrieve more than 200 data series in one query.
Type all or part of a search string in the search text box. The contents of the box will filter to show only those options that contain the search string.
Click on the Benefit Categories you want to select, to add it to the selection list. Employees are considered to have access to a benefit plan if it is available for their use. For example, if an employee is permitted to participate in a medical care plan offered by the employer, but the employee declines to do so, he or she is placed in a category with those having access to medical care. Employees in contributory plans are considered participants in an insurance or retirement plan if they have paid required contributions and fulfilled any applicable service requirements. Employees in noncontributory plans are counted as participating regardless of whether they have fulfilled the service requirements. Note that the term "incidence" can refer to either rates of access or rates of participation in a benefit plan. Average categories show either dollar amounts of a benefit or a requirement (for example, average amount of life insurance benefit or average employee contribution for single medical care coverage) or average duration of a benefit (average number of paid holidays). To select multiple options, hold the Ctrl/Command button, and click the desired options.
Click on the type of establishment you would like to select. Small private establishments include establishments with fewer than 100 employees. Medium and large private establishments include those employing 100 or more workers. Excluded from private industry are agricultural workers, volunteers, unpaid workers, individuals receiving long-term disability compensation, and those working overseas. Private households, the self-employed, workers who set their own pay (e.g., proprietors, owners, major stockholders, and partners in unincorporated firms), and family members paid token wages are also excluded from private industry. State and local governments include all government establishments, regardless of size.
You must make a selection for each of the characteristics in the order listed. Once you have selected all of the characteristics, the “Add to selection” button becomes active. Click the “Add to selection” button to list the selected data series in the “Your selection” box. You can return to the characteristics boxes and make new selections to request additional data series. Click the "Get Data" button to retrieve all the selected data series.
You must make a selection for each of the characteristics in the order listed. Once you have selected all of the characteristics, the “Get Data” button becomes active. Click to retrieve the data.
Last Modified Date: February 20, 2018
United States Department of Labor
