The Chronicle: 1/6/2005: Charities Outdo Businesses on Worker Benefits

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From the issue dated January 6, 2005

Charities Outdo Businesses on Worker Benefits

By Sharnell Bryan

Employees of religious, charitable, and nonprofit professional organizations receive more-generous benefits than do those in other industries, according to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, in New York.

The report drew information from more than 1,700 for-profit and nonprofit employers across the country. The survey has been conducted every year since 1995, but only included data from nonprofit employers this year.

The study ranked the value of the benefits offered by organizations in each industry based on the cost to a worker in pre-tax earnings of purchasing or otherwise obtaining the employer-provided benefits. Religious, charitable, and nonprofit professional organizations surveyed had the highest total benefit value, with government employers ranked second.

Regional Differences

Aside from the groups explicitly identified as nonprofit employers, Mercer also surveyed 138 health-care and social-assistance groups, 125 hospitals, and 120 organizations that provide educational services.

Education-services employers came in third overall in total benefit value; while hospitals, along with health-care and social-assistance organizations, lagged far behind.

In the for-profit field, the utilities industry ranked the highest in benefit value, while companies that run hotels and provide food services ranked the lowest in the survey overall.

How well industries fared in providing workers with benefits also varied from region to region. Employers in the Northeast offered the highest overall benefit value in this year's survey, as they have in the past four years. The Northeast was followed by employers in the Southeast, the north central region, the West Coast, and the south central region.

Copies of the "2004 Spotlight on Benefits Report" can be purchased for $450 each by calling (800) 333-3070 or from the company's Website, http://imercer.com.

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