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A new national survey analyzed by a local company finds that health insurance benefits provided by private companies declined less than one percent between 2009 and 2011. Retirement benefits, however, took a larger hit as companies dealt with the effects of the economic downturn.

The analysis was by the MRA-The Management Association, a company based in Pewaukee. The survey finds that average employer contributions to health insurance premiums fell from 78.6 percent in 2009 to 78.1 percent in 2011 for employee-only plans and from 69.6 percent in 2009 to 69.4 percent in 2011 for family plans.

The survey polled 2,300 companies on their benefits plans. About half were manufacturers, 30 percent belonged to a service industry, 14 percent were wholesalers or retailers and the rest were from other industries.

Perhaps in response to the recession, more companies started offering Health Savings Accounts during the two-year period. The accounts, tax shelters where employees can save money to spend later on medical care, are designed to reduce dependence on insurance. The number of companies offering such accounts grew from 16 percent in 2009 to 23 percent in 2011.

Retirement benefits were scaled back significantly. The number of companies offering 401(k) plans with guaranteed matches by employers fell from about 59 percent in 2009 to 49 percent in 2011. More are now offering plans with “discretionary” matches in which companies are free to choose the rate at which they match employee contributions.

In another blow to employee morale, fewer companies are hosting “holiday parties, annual picnics and golf and retirement parties,” according to MRA. Now, only about two-thirds of employers hold such festivities, down from 71 percent in 2009.

Managers are also cracking down on recreational use of the Internet. In 2009, about 71 percent of companies reported using “blockers” to stop employees from accessing certain types of websites. This year, 76 percent are using them. Only 35 percent of employers allow access to social media sites such as Facebook, surely a scourge on productivity.

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