Employer-Provided Benefits in Oregon

Three-fourths (76%) of Oregon's private employers offered one or more health, retirement, leave, pay, or other benefits to employees in June 2018. More than half (59%) of all employers offered health benefits, while 51 percent offered retirement benefits. This findings come from a survey of more than 12,000 private employers conducted by the Employment Department, and summarized in the new report Employer-Provided Benefits: Offerings, Enrollment, and Rising Costs.

A few big themes emerged from the survey. First, larger shares of private employers offered benefits to full-time employees than part-time employees. This was true across the board. While about six out of 10 employers offered health benefits to full-time employees, just one out of 10 extended the offering to part-time employees. Half of all private employers offered retirement benefits to full-time employees, while 23 percent offered them to part-time employees.

Second, as a firm's size class increased, so did the likelihood of offering benefits. The most common benefit offerings in June 2018 included health benefits, retirement benefits, paid holidays, paid vacation, unpaid leave, and annual pay raises. The share of mid-sized employers (10 to 49 payroll employees in Oregon) generally reflected the overall trend for benefit offerings. Shares of the smallest employers (2 to 9 employees) and largest employers (50+ employees) offering these benefits showed great disparity though. The biggest differences occurred in overall health and retirement offerings, where the share of the largest employers extending benefits exceeded the smallest employers by more than 50 percentage points.

Another notable trend Oregon employers detailed was the high cost of providing health benefits. When employers with health benefits were asked to describe the most important effects on their business and workforce over the past year, two-thirds (67%) mentioned the high/higher/increasing costs of health care. In addition, almost three-fourths (73%) of employers with health benefit offerings noted that the total cost of their plan increased over the past year.

More information about employer-provided benefits, both regionally and statewide, can be found at QualityInfo.org/benefits. Check out our interactive graphs and benefits podcast too!