THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512160372
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
Four of five Virginia companies pay for their workers' continuing education, but only 9 percent pay or plan to pay for child care, according to a benefits survey by the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.
And who would know more about what companies pay for than the people who do their bookkeeping?
The survey touches upon the gamut of benefits, shedding light on which perks have nearly become standards for compensating workers and which ones haven't yet caught on.
Not surprisingly, health insurance has become nearly universal: nine of 10 CPAs said their companies or their clients pay for medical coverage. Almost that many companies pay for a worker's dues in a professional organization.
Other benefits are catching on but have yet to become standards. Falling into that category are companies that contribute to an employee's 401(k) plan (56 percent) and companies that pay into a retirement plan (51 percent).
Some newer benefits are costly to small businesses and therefore have not become widespread, said Deborah Gill, chairwoman of the society's benefits committee. But she suggested that those businesses might have to add the benefits when ``pressure from outside is so great that they can't not do it.''
Companies apparently do not feel pressured to offer child care, the CPA survey reported, with only nine percent paying for it, four percent offering it on site and three percent offering a referral service.
Many companies also seem to be ignoring the Americans with Disabilities Act and Equal Employment Opportunity laws - 34 percent of the CPAs polled said employers had made no active efforts to comply.
On a lighter note, trends that don't add expenses to a company's bottom line seem to be gaining acceptance: 56 percent of companies offer casual dress days, 39 percent flex time, 7 percent let workers take sabbaticals and 6 percent encourage telecommuting. by CNB