The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) released its 2022 Employee Benefit Survey early last month. This national study provides an extensive look at employer benefit program offerings on a national scale.

This year’s survey found that 98% of participants offer some type of medical insurance benefits to their employees. The survey showed growth in mental health, telemedicine, and telehealth benefits in particular. Ninety-three (93%) of responding organizations report they offer telemedicine or telehealth benefits. This is a 20-percentage point increase from 2019.

In the area of retirement plan benefits 94 percent of reporting employers offer a traditional 401(k) with 76% offering a Roth 401(k) plan to their employees. The average employer matching contribution? 6.8% match. To promote participation in the employer savings plans 51% of organizations said they automatically enroll new or existing employees in their company’s retirement plan.

What about employee leave benefits? Organizations offering paid maternity leave actually went down from 53% in 2020 to 35% in 2022 and employers reported a drop of 27% down from 44% in paid paternity leave. Another family leave benefit – paid adoption leave – reportedly dropped to 28% from 36%. No information as to why this occurred was offered.

As expected though, 99% of employers offer vacation leave or paid sick leave (96%).  Confirming the trend toward Paid Time Off (PTO) banks, the survey found 67% of employers now provide a PTO plan covering both vacation and sick time. Though getting media attention when offered by some employers, the practice of providing unlimited paid vacation/time off the survey found only 6% of respondents currently have this very generous sounding benefit. 20% of organizations provide paid mental days that are separate from regular sick leave benefits.

In the hot area of work flexibility only 3% of employers offer most of their workers a hybrid work schedule that provides a combination of remote and in person work. When employees are encouraged to work from home, 62% of employers offer a subsidy or reimbursement for at-home office or work equipment. The average amount provided averages $891.

Additionally, the survey found 68% of employers offer subsidy or reimbursement to home workers covering office supplies such as paper and pens. 24% report they cover the cost of chairs purchased for the home office.

In the area of family care benefits, 59% of employers offer a dependent care flexible spending account. 31% of employers stated they would allow employees to bring their children to work.

The SHRM Benefits Survey reported data collected from January 11 through February 28, 2022 and reported data from 3,129 participants.

For other national benefit data, ASE members have access to the 2022 National Policies and Practices Survey conducted by The Employers Associations of America (EAA). The 2022 Survey was published earlier this year with data collected in September through October of 2021. For this information, go to the ASE Member Dashboard and click My Surveys.

ASE’s 2022 Healthcare Benefits survey will be coming out this August. ASE’s survey provides data for Michigan healthcare benefits policies and practices.

Source: CCH HR Ideas and Trends No.586 (7/5/2022)