Part-time workers get more benefits

Part-time workers given perks

The Washington-Baltimore Metro Region Benefits Survey Report, which has been running annually for five years, found that 73 percent of employers offered leave benefits to their part-time workers; an increase of 12 percent. Many employers also extended dental, medical and 401(k) plans to employees who worked as few as 20 hours a week, said the Washington Post.

According to industry analysts, employers are still reeling from the recession and it can, therefore, be more beneficial for employers to offer incentives to part-time workers to stay, rather than investing money in hiring new full-time staff.

Angelo Kostopoulos, president of Akron, which conducted the survey, said that employers "are trying to produce more with the folks they have. They're saying, "Let me not overcommit my financial resources by bringing on new people.""

The 247-page study is based on a survey of 256 public and private employers from a range of companies, including the Carlyle Group, Inova Health System, the American Bankers Association and the Pew Research Centre. Overall, more than 224,000 employers took part in the study and around 70 percent of these had participated in the survey during its previous years.

British company NI Direct highlighted the benefits of opting for part-time workers rather than full-time, and said: "employing part-time workers can be an efficient way to keep costs down in areas where you don't need full-time cover. It can also mean that you are able to attract a wide pool of talented staff to fill vacancies and build in flexibility so that you can respond to changes in demand and develop your business."

For example, the rising costs of health-care have led to employers shifting progressively more of these expenses to their workers and this year they raised co-payments by 25 percent, compared to 23 percent last year and 20 percent in 2008.

By contrast, however, high-deductible consumer-driven health plans are growing; 26 percent of the employers surveyed said that they offered them this year compared to just seven percent in 2006.

Mr. Kostopoulos said that although many employers would prefer to hire new full-time workers, this just isn't a possibility for the majority of them in the current climate.

"There is an increased demand" said Mr. Kostopoulos, "but not enough to warrant additional full-time folks."

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