SD employee benefits survey results released

Employee benefits are various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Information about employee benefits is useful not only to employers who want to offer competitive benefits, but also to job seekers, students and other career planners, vocational counselors and policy makers.

“Survey results help provide insight into what benefits are being offered in South Dakota, along with an estimate of the costs employers face to offer certain benefits,” said state Labor and Regulation Secretary Marcia Hultman.

Results cover benefits such as medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, retirement plans, several types of paid leave, and other miscellaneous benefits most common among businesses. The data on the offering of these employee benefits is also available for specific industry sectors and employer size classes.

Highlights from the Employee Benefits Survey include:

• 12 is the average number of days of paid vacation leave provided to employees by firms employing full-time workers.
• 29.7 percent of employers pay more than $600 per month per employee to provide single medical insurance coverage for workers.
• 55 percent of firms employing full-time workers offer an employee medical insurance policy.
• 54 percent of firms employing full-time workers offer a retirement plan.

Results of the survey can be viewed online at dlr.sd.gov/lmic. Contact the Labor Market Information Center at 605-626-2314 for more information.