By Jason Rowe, courtesy of SBAM Approved Partner ASE
ASE recently published the results to its biennial Policies and Benefits Survey. Survey results are broken into nine major categories and are based on three employer sizes in both the National and Michigan (a subset of the national report) editions. Over 125 Michigan employers participated in the 2021/2022 edition, and 332 questions were answered regarding human resource policies and employee benefit offerings.
The majority of respondents, 79.5%, have an employment size of 499 employees or less. Most fall into the combined services sector (48.2%), followed closely by the manufacturing sector (49.6%). Nearly 20 (15%) report to have union employees, and about 30% of respondents have a revenue size of under $25 million.
The survey covers a variety of topics in the area of health and welfare benefits, retirement benefits, pay practices, working conditions, paid time off, part-time benefits, recruitment, training and development, employee/community relations and miscellaneous benefits. Below are
highlights from the 2021/2022 Michigan survey.
Survey Highlights:
In many instances, survey participants were able to provide actual data (e.g., dollar amounts of
premium covered, average paid time off awarded, number of paid sick days, etc.). This provides a more accurate look at employee benefits and work policies.
- The most popular medical plan continues to be PPO coverage. Employees in most job categories and company size are more likely to select a PPO option instead of an HMO or High Deductible Health Plan.
- Vacation continues to be more popular than utilizing a general Paid Time Off (PTO) plan, with the average professional, supervisory, and management employee earning 11.3 days for the first year of service, 15.6 days at five years of service, and 18.9 days at ten years of service.
- The average number of paid holidays given to employees each year (including floating holidays) continues to be about 10.
- Of the employers who auto-enroll employees in the 401(k) plan, the most common default contribution percentage continues to fall between 3% – 3.9%.
- The top three training opportunities offered are leadership, supervisory, and coaching.
- Employers that offer tuition reimbursement most typically reimburse $5,000 or more for non-union empl
- The vast majority of employers have a formal compensation program, with the most popular method being market pricing.
- For employers who provide cell phones, it’s most typical for the organization to pay the entire cost.
- Approximately 14% of employers offer paid maternity leave beyond what is offered through short-term disability, and nearly 13% of employers offer paid paternity leave. Most employees on parental leave receive their full pay.
It’s imperative for employers to offer competitive benefits and policies as they struggle to find and retain employees. This data is crucial to knowing what other employers are offering in Michigan and nationally.