Text from recent press release from Lockton Companies:
“Lockton Companies recently published its second report on human resources (HR) trends, The Lockton Survey Report. Survey results include responses from 184 HR executives and professionals from major industries and regional companies, representing more than 200,000 employees across the U.S.
What’s trending? Paid Time Off (PTO) benefits and policies continue to evolve to keep pace with changing social and economic needs. For many employees who become parents, paid leave and flexible support have significant impacts on the family’s health and financial well being.
For an HR professional, managing paid leave benefits requires more than an understanding of federal, state, and local laws mandating or regulating the payment of wages to employees on leave. It also requires an acknowledgement of the importance and the strategic role benefits play in an organization’s total rewards philosophy. Benefits generally make up 6.9 percent1 of an employee’s total compensation.
The Lockton survey revealed:
• Vacation benefits are more prevalent among larger organizations (those with more than 1,500 employees) than PTO programs. Seventy-five percent of large organizations provide vacation benefits, whereas only 38 percent of the same organizations offer PTO programs.
• The healthcare industry offers the greatest amount of vacation time when compared to other industries. On average, the industry starts at 165 hours for the first year of service and increases substantially from there.
• Ninety-seven percent of organizations that do not offer paid vacation offer PTO programs.
• Seventy-four percent of organizations that do not off sick leave offer PTO programs.
Additional, non-PTO-related findings include:
• Forty-five percent of organizations do not track turnover rates. Since Lockton’s 2012 survey was released, fewer employers are tracking turnover. This is surprising, given the growing hype around “Big Data.”
• Recruitment and retention of talented employees are key driving factors for employers who offer work-life flexibility in their workplaces. The most common form of work-life flexibility is occasional telecommuting.
The Lockton survey was designed to engage a representative sample of U.S. employers to better understand trends in human resources. The survey questionnaire and report have undergone continual revision and refinement, to ensure the report’s content and analysis remain vital, timely, and comprehensive.”