Cui Bono? Employee Benefit Packages

Recent difficulties in obtaining quality child care by Clinton administration nominees underscore the shortcomings in employee benefits available to the U.S. labor force. The author uses data from the 1991 National Organizations Survey to examine the extent to which employers provide various types of benefits. Factor analysis of 13 programs and services uncovers three underlying dimensions: (a) a personal benefits package consisting of medical, dental, life insurance, pensions, disability, and drug/alcohol abuse treatment; (b) a familial benefits bundle of maternity leave, sick leave, elderly care, child care, and job training programs; and (c) participant benefits comprising cash bonuses and profit sharing. Poisson regression and multicategory logistic regression analyses examine hypotheses about the organizational capacity, employee demand, and environmental factors associated with more comprehensive employee benefit programs. Implications of the results for understanding organizations’ human resources practices and their social contracts with employees are discussed.