For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, December 17, 2020				       USDL-20-2266

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 – SEPTEMBER 2020
			
Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $38.26 per hour worked in
September 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries cost
employers $26.25 while benefits cost $12.01. (See table 1.)

Private industry worker compensation costs for employers averaged $35.95 per hour worked in
September 2020. Wages and salaries averaged $25.23 and accounted for 70.2 percent of employer costs,
while benefit costs averaged $10.72 and accounted for 29.8 percent. (See tables 1 and 4.) 

State and local government compensation costs averaged $52.94 per hour worked. Wages and salaries
averaged $32.74 per hour worked and represented 61.8 percent of total compensation costs, while
benefit costs averaged $20.20 and accounted for the remaining 38.2 percent. (See tables 1 and 3.)

Among state and local government industry groups, total compensation costs were $51.31 per hour
worked in public administration and $55.27 in education and health services. Wages and salaries were
$30.91 in hospitals and $39.45 in junior colleges, colleges, and universities. (See table 3.)

Benefit component costs for state and local government workers

Total benefits ($20.20 per hour worked) include supplemental pay ($0.54), legally required benefits
($2.91), paid leave ($3.99), insurance ($6.21), and retirement and savings ($6.56) costs. The
average retirement and savings cost in the management, professional, and related occupations was
$7.85 per hour worked or 12.4 percent of total compensation. (See tables 1 and 3.)  

Paid leave costs consist of personal ($0.34 per hour worked), sick ($1.01), holiday ($1.12), and
vacation ($1.51) costs. The average paid leave cost in the junior colleges, colleges, and
universities industry was $5.25 or 8.6 percent of total compensation. (See tables 1 and 3.) 

Supplemental pay costs include shift differentials, $0.05 per hour worked (0.1 percent of total
compensation), overtime and premium pay, $0.24 (0.4 percent), and nonproduction bonuses, $0.25
(0.5 percent). (See tables 1 and 3.)

Insurance costs include short-term disability, $0.03 per hour worked (0.1 percent of total
compensation), long-term disability, $0.05 (0.1 percent), life insurance, $0.07 (0.1 percent),
and health insurance, $6.06 (11.4 percent). (See tables 1 and 3.)

Retirement and savings costs include defined contribution plans, $0.44 per hour worked (0.8 percent
of total compensation), and defined benefit plans, $6.11 (11.6 percent). (See tables 1 and 3.)

Legally required benefit costs include state and federal unemployment insurance, $0.06 per hour
worked (0.1 percent of total compensation), workers' compensation, $0.58 (1.1 percent), and Social
Security and Medicare, $2.27 (4.3 percent). (See tables 1 and 3.)

Note: Estimates for highlighted benefit components are available through the database query tool at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/data.htm.

 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|		   Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on September 2020 ECEC Data                        |
|The Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) reference date was September 12, 2020. Response rates   |
|for September were comparable with prior releases, and no changes in estimation procedures were necessary.  |
|Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-on-workplace-injuries-and-   |
|illnesses-compensation-and-occupational-requirements.htm#ECEC.     					     |
|____________________________________________________________________________________________________________|

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation for December 2020 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 18,
2021, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

                                        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 25,300
occupational observations selected from a sample of about 6,200 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 (RSEs) provide users a tool to ascertain the quality of an estimate to ensure
that it is within an acceptable range for their intended purpose. RSEs are available at
www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/ecec-rse.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.

Area definitions:
Metropolitan area definitions have been updated based on Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No.
13-01, dated February 28, 2013. For more information see www.census.gov/programs-surveys/metro-micro.html.

Publication focus:
Topics of news releases for the upcoming reference periods are as follows:
* December 2020—supplemental pay costs in private industry
* March 2021—compensation costs by wage percentile, and 15 metropolitan areas in private industry
* June 2021—benefits costs in private industry

The 2021 ECEC release dates are available at www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/ecec.htm.