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				EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY, 2005

     Seventy percent of workers in private industry had access to employer-sponsored medical care plans, and
53 percent participated in medical care plans in March 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor reported today.  Sixty percent of workers had access to retirement benefits, with 50
percent participating in at least one type of retirement plan.  These findings are from the Summary, "National
Compensation Survey:  Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2005," published today.  These results
can be found on the BLS Web site http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0003.pdf.

     These data are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), which provides comprehensive measures
of occupational earnings, compensation cost trends, and details of benefit provisions.  In addition to health and
retirement plans, the survey also covered paid leave, disability insurance, and other selected benefits.  The
following are some of the major findings:

     *	Most employees covered by medical care plans were in plans requiring employee contributions for
     both single coverage and family coverage. Employee contributions to medical care premiums
     averaged $273.03 per month for family coverage; for single coverage, employee contributions
     averaged $68.96 per month.

     *	Employer premiums for medical care plans averaged $575.77 a month per participant for family
     coverage, for single coverage employer contributions averaged $252.22 a month. Employer
     contributions were higher for those employees who were not required to contribute than for those who
     were.

     *	Twenty-one percent of employees participated in defined benefit retirement plans, and 42 percent in
     defined contribution plans. (Some employees participate in both types.)

     *	Paid leave was the most commonly provided employee benefit in the private sector: paid holidays and
     vacations were available to 77 percent of employees. Paid jury duty leave was also common, available
     to 69 percent of workers. Forty-eight percent of the workers had paid military leave benefits.

     The release and Summary Report are available by e-mail request at ocltinfo@bls.gov, by telephone (202)
691-6199, or on the BLS Internet site, http://www.bls.gov/ncs/home.htm.  Regional Information offices, listed
on the Internet site, http://www.bls.gov/bls/regncon.htm, also are available to answer any of your questions.