The Ups and Downs of Employee Benefits

by Brittany Shoot · 2010-06-12 08:22:00 UTC
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Of all the part-time employers I've ever had, the best ones were undoubtedly the ones who offered nice perks: free drinks on the job (coffee shop), library privileges (university admin) and long dinner breaks (hostel front desk). Nice as they were, I suspect that I'd have traded those perks for more hours, more money, or both.

Increasingly, DC- and Baltimore-area employers are offering benefits and extra perks to part-time workers — not out of the goodness of their hearts, but because doing so is easier and cheaper than promoting them to full-time positions. This year's fifth annual Washington-Baltimore Metro Region Benefits Survey Report shows that 73 percent of the participating employers gave their part-time employees increased benefits, like paid leave.

In the report, part-time workers (20 hours a week or more) were shown to be given significant increases in medical, dental and 401(k) plans. On the flip side, employers are shifting some of the economic burden to their employees. Medical co-pays were up, and health costs increased for workers overall. Wellness programs like smoking cessation courses were also being offered at lower rates. And, more employers than ever before are offering employee-contributed retirement plans in lieu of providing pensions. Being able to opt-in as a part-timer when you were previously weren't allowed seems fine and dandy, but the burden of the recession is still falling hard on employees' shoulders — particularly those with full-time positions.

On one hand, as I've written before, I think part-time workers, often seemingly the most expendable, deserve extra incentives and benefits. There also may be a small portion of part-time employees who don't want to be hired full-time, whether due to other commitments/limited availability or because they see their part-time job as temporary anyway. But on the other hand, shouldn't we be encouraging more employers to offer stable employment to those who want it? The recession may not be over yet, but that doesn't mean we can't band together and make space for better employee benefits — for both full- and part-time workers — now.

Photo credit: barto

Brittany Shoot is a writer and editor whose work has been published by Bitch, In These Times, the New York Times, RH Reality Check, truthout and ZNet.

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