Technical Note

Data in this bulletin are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This bulletin contains March 2008 data on civilian, private industry, and State and local government workers in the United States. Under the NCS program, information on the incidence and provision of benefits is published in several stages. In August 2008, a news release provided data on the incidence of (access to and participation in) selected benefits and share of premiums paid by employers and employees for medical care. Those estimates are also included in these tables. Data on detailed provisions of health insurance benefits in private industry will be published in 2009. Previous publications containing information on employee benefits for private industry and State and local government workers are available on the BLS website http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs.

Survey scope and method

Information on the survey scope, sample design, data collection, survey estimation, and reliability of estimates are available in the news release, "Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2008" (USDL 08-1122) available at the BLS Web site http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ebs2_08072008.pdf. For additional technical information, see the BLS Handbook of Methods, available online at http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/home.htm.

Survey definitions

Definitions of pretax benefits, nonproduction bonuses, and stock options are available in the most recent benefit publications. The March 2007 Summary of benefits for private industry workers is available online at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0006.pdf; the September 2007 Summary of benefits for State and local government workers is available at the Web site http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0007.pdf.

Obtaining additional information

For research articles on employee benefits, see the Monthly Labor Review or Compensation and Working Conditions Online at the BLS Web sites http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/home.htm and http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/home.htm. For more detailed information on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, including background information, see the BLS Web sites http://www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm and http://www.bls.gov/soc/home.htm.

Appendices