2015 Charleston Region SC Wage and Benefits Survey Highlights
Conducted by:
Center for Business Research
Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce PO Box 975, Charleston SC 29402
2015 Charleston SC Metro Area Wages/Benefits Study Highlights • • •
CBR been doing wages/benefits studies in the metro area since the mid 1990s. 2015 study: 70 firms in nearly every sector participated, representing 31,000 employees (approximately 10% of the region’s workforce). Small and large firms participated: 56% had up to 100 employees and 44% had more than 100 employees. >500 workers, 17%
25 or fewer workers, 24%
201 to 500, 13%
26 to 50, 10%
101 to 200, 14% 51 to 100, 21% •
Use of contract or temporary employees is significant for employers in the study:
# of full-time exempt employees
9,027
# of full-time non-exempt hourly employees
6,535
# of full-time non-exempt salaried employees
793
# of part-time, regular employees
2,311
# of contract or temporary employees # of other employees
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11,152 940
Survey respondents in aggregate reported nearly 3,000 newly hired workers in the past year, with nearly 2,700 new hires anticipated in their next fiscal year.
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Local manufacturers in the study reported paying 78 percent on average of their employees’ medical insurance premiums and non-manufacturers reported paying 76 percent of the premium on average. This compares to the nationwide average of 78 percent across all private industry sectors and is slightly lower than the average portion (80%) of the employee-only medical premium being employer-paid for Federal government civilian workers.
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Smaller firms (<100 workers) participating in the study were nearly three times more likely to pay the full premium (100% of the premium) for medical coverage for their employees than were larger firms (100+ workers).
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Respondents were asked about another proposed law which would extend overtime pay to most salaried workers earning less than $50,440 per year (http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/NPRM2015/factsheet.htm). Most firms (80%) reported some employees in this category, and smaller companies (< 100 workers) reported a more significant impact.
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Pay increases among all types of participating firms averaged 3 percent for the previous year, and smaller firms, whether manufacturing or non-manufacturing, reported higher pay-increases than did larger firms for exempt employees. This compares to the nationwide average pay increase of 2.1 percent for both private industry workers and federal civilian workers, and 1.8 percent for state and local government workers.
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When asked about percentage of a firm’s total annual compensation package that is fringe benefits (versus pay), the most frequent response was 31 to 40 percent. The national average for fringe benefits as a percentage of total compensation costs is 30.5 percent for all private industry firms (33.7 percent for goods producing and 29.6 percent for service producing firms), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm)
Other topics covered in the study include paid time off, shift differentials, bonuses, and other hiring and compensation practices, as well as wage rates for specific selected occupations from general business to industrial to information technology.