Labor can account for upwards of 60% of total warehousing costs. Employee benefits make up a large chunk of those costs, which keep climbing every year. Warehousing Benefits Programs 2005—A Survey of Industry Practices, recently published by the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC), offers insights into the various employee benefits offered by warehouse operations, including paid holidays, vacation, sick leave, medical insurance, retirement plans, part-time employee benefits, and sign-on bonuses (3% of warehouses offer sign-on bonuses to nonexempt employees, 13% offer such extra compensation to exempt employees).
Some other highlights from the study:
- A majority warehouses provide nine or more paid holidays per year to employees.
- Three-quarters of warehouse operations pay nonexempt employees time and a half or double time for working on paid holidays. Union facilities tend to pay more.
- While more than half of warehouses provide five paid sick days per employee annually, one quarter of warehouses offer zero paid sick days.
- After one year of service, employees at 45% of warehouses earn one week of vacation, and employees at 41% of warehouses earn two weeks of vacation.
- Over three quarters of warehouses offer a preferred provider organization (PPO) medical insurance benefit to employees, and they typically cover 75% of the family premium.
See how your company's benefits practices measure up. Non-members can purchase a copy of the report for $70 from WERC.
