Bigger firms offer better job benefits.

Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

If a job's benefits, such as paid vacation and health insurance, matter as much to you as the paycheck itself, then a new state survey has some advice for you: Stick with full-time work at a large employer in manufacturing, or financial or professional services.

And stay away from part-time work, especially in the leisure and hospitality industry, construction, and logging, according to the survey released Monday by the state Employment Department.

For part-timers, the prospect for getting good benefits is slim. Three-quarters of surveyed Oregon firms offer no paid vacation time to part-timers; 80 percent offer them no health insurance; and 80 percent offer them no retirement plan.

The study didn't examine what types of employees are more likely to work part time. However, a 2004 national employment survey found that 32 percent of female employees worked part time, versus 17 percent of their male counterparts. A quarter of employees age 20 to 24 worked part time; and 30 percent of employees 55 and older worked part time.

Even if you work full time - typically 40 or more hours a week - there's no guarantee that you'll score a generous, comprehensive benefits package, the Oregon survey showed.

A quarter of private-sector employers don't offer paid vacation leave to full-timers; one third don't offer them paid holidays; 40 percent don't offer them health insurance; and 60 percent offer them no retirement plan.

The business community for years has been asking the state for assemble Oregon-specific data on employment benefits.

"We produce data on average wage by industry, but the portion of compensation that we haven't had (in our surveys) is benefits," said Art Ayre, state employment economist who wrote the new report. An increasing number of states have been crunching those numbers, so, "We decided it was time to get on the bandwagon and do this," he said.

Benefits have been a crucial topic for years among employees, who often shop for work based in part on health insurance and retirement packages.

The department conducted the study last fall by surveying nearly 7,000 Oregon firms spanning all geographic areas, company sizes and industry types.

The cost of health insurance continues to be a major concern for Oregon employers and employees. Together, the employers and employees paid an average cost of $350 a month per employee for health insurance plans, the survey found.

Rising costs have driven about two-thirds of Oregon employers in the past year to change the health insurance plans offered employees, the survey found.

Ayre said his most surprising finding was that the smaller the firm, the more likely it was to pay all of its enrolled employees' health insurance costs.

More than two-thirds of firms with two to nine employees paid the full cost for their full-time workers' health insurance. But only about a quarter of firms with 500 or more employees said they bore the entire cost. The survey didn't ask employers why.

Another puzzling finding was that not all employees who are offered a health insurance plan enroll in it. A quarter of full-time employees who are offered health insurance decline to enroll in the plan, and 60 percent of part-timers decline if offered health insurance.

Cost could be a factor. At least a third of employers with health insurance require the employee to pay all or some of the cost. Also, some employees might not sign up because their spouse already has insurance.

Copies of the study are available at www.QualityInfo.org.