Here is an interesting article from the Society of Human Resource Management SHRM

Benefits consume 40.2 percent of payroll costs

The cost of employee benefits reached 40.2 percent of payroll expenses in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to a new study released by the United States Chamber of Commerce.

According to the 2005 Employee Benefits Study, retirement and savings plan costs experienced the sharpest increase, rising from 6.7 percent to 8.0 percent of payroll expenses from 2003 to 2004. The study included 720 U.S. businesses.

Medically related expenses remained the greatest share of employee benefit costs, at 11.9 percent, according to the Chamber. Payments employers made for time not worked, such as holidays and other paid time off, represented an additional 10.5 percent of payroll expenditures. The average dollar amount in benefits received by employees from the participating companies increased from $18,358 in 2004 to $20,158 in 2005. Benefit costs, as a percentage of payroll costs, have increased on average close to 1 percent each year since 2000.

�These results indicate that employers continue to strive to offer good benefits packages to workers, even in the face of increasing costs,� said Randel Johnson, a Chamber vice president, in a Chamber publication.

Compare the SHRM statistics to those provide by the U.S Department of Labor in a March 14, 2006 article.

EMPLOYER COSTS FOR EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION-DECEMBER 2005

Employer costs for employee compensation averaged $26.46 per hour worked in December 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries, which averaged $18.59, accounted for 70.2 percent of these costs, while benefits, which averaged $7.87, accounted for the remaining 29.8 percent.

SHRM states 40.2 percent of payroll costs goes to benefits. The government puts the percentage much lower at 29.8 percent, or a difference of 10.4%. Obviously, they arrived at their numbers with different data. It would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison of data to pinpoint the differences.