The National Compensation Survey (NCS) is produced by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the government of the United States, U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics, labor economics and ...

(BLS), measuring occupational earnings, compensation costs, benefit incidence rates, and plan provisions. It is used to adjust the federal wage schedule for all federal employees. Detailed occupational earnings are available for both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, broad geographic regions, and on a national basis. The NCS' Employment Cost Index measures changes in labor costs. The average costs of employee compensation per hour worked is presented in the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).

Data

The National Compensation Survey uses data provided by companies, organizations, and government agencies that voluntarily report employee wages, benefit incidence rates, and the costs of employee compensation. All data provided to the BLS is strictly confidential and is used for statistical purposes in accordance with the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act.

Collection

The National Compensation Survey's data is collected by field economists within the BLS who randomly sample firms and report on the compensation of one to eight occupations within the business over time. Some respondents are also asked to report on the provisions, participation, and costs of benefits offered to employees. Occupations are benchmarked using a four-factor leveling system developed by the BLS to assist in comparing compensation data across industries, professions, and geographic boundaries. In August 2023, the BLS announced it would stop collecting data on

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

, which provides medical care and wage replacement in exchange for the employee's right to sue their employer for

negligence Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...

. While this benefit is required by most states, workers' compensation only costs employers an average of $0.46 per hour of an employee's work, representing only 1% of total compensation and 3% of total benefits. The NCS data had been criticized for deviation from reporting by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), potentially due to poor response rates on this section of the NCS. Additionally, the NCS surveyed corporate establishments for their total workers' compensation costs, obscuring differences by occupation.

Publications/Statistics

* Employment Cost Index * Employer Costs for Employee Compensation * Employee Benefits in Private Industry * Occupational Pay Relatives

References

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External links

National Compensation Survey
Labour economics indices Reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Workers' compensation