Technical Contact: USDL: 06-1482 (202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov Media Contact: FOR RELEASE: 10:00 A.M. (EDT) (202) 691-5902 THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2006 Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ect/home.htm EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN PRIVATE INDUSTRY, 2006 Seventy-one percent of workers in private industry had access to employer-sponsored medical care plans, and 52 percent participated in medical care plans in March 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Sixty percent of workers had access to retirement benefits, with 51 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 2006," published today. These results can be found on the BLS Web site http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0004.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 $296.88 per month for family coverage and $76.05 per month for single coverage. * Employer premiums for medical care plans averaged $617.18 a month per participant for family coverage and $266.50 a month for single coverage. Employer contributions were higher for those employees who were not required to contribute than for those who were. * Fifty-one percent of employees participated in a retirement plan. Twenty-percent of employees participated in defined benefit retirement plans, and 43 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 were available to 76 percent of employees and paid vacations to 77 percent. The release and Summary Report are available by e-mail request at NCSinfo@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.