Contractors in upstate New York are “strategically and tactically” trying to stretch their dollars to survive as they strike to satisfy their employees’ needs. That’s according to the 2013 Upstate New York Contractors Compensation and Benefits Study that The Bonadio Group, released in late May. Headquartered in Rochester, The Bonadio Group is an accounting and […]
Contractors in upstate New York are “strategically and tactically” trying to stretch their dollars to survive as they strike to satisfy their employees’ needs.
That’s according to the 2013 Upstate New York Contractors Compensation and Benefits Study that The Bonadio Group, released in late May.
Headquartered in Rochester, The Bonadio Group is an accounting and business-advisory firm that operates seven offices in upstate New York, including Syracuse and Geneva, along with New York City and Rutland, Vt., according to the firm’s website.
The Bonadio Group has about 300 clients that are either contractors or companies that service the construction and real-estate industry, says Scott Cresswell, a Bonadio partner who leads the construction group in Rochester.
“People constantly ask and we try to give our clients a feel for how they’re doing; benchmarking them to their peer group,” he says.
The Bonadio Group conducted the survey early in 2013. The firm notifies its clients through a letter and provides a link where they complete the survey online.
Respondents had between the start of the year and the end of February to submit their data. On average, about 100 participants take part in the survey, Cresswell says.
Employees, health-care costs
When asked employment levels, respondents indicated the differences between 2012 and 2013 would be “minimal,” according to the Bonadio report.
The survey found most firms are either holding the line or adding employees, Cresswell says. Less than 10 percent said that they were reducing employment levels in 2013, he added.
However, the survey also indicates a shift toward small-employment growth.
For 2013, about 34 percent of respondents said that employment levels in their company will increase; about five percent plan to decrease their employee count; and 61 percent anticipated no change, according to the Bonadio survey.
About 93 percent of respondents said their company provided employees with a health-care plan, which is up from 85 percent in 2012, according to the report.
“It’s not surprising to see that the number of companies having some type of health-care plan has increased,” the report says.
Both figures are up from 78 percent in the 2011 survey.
With the Affordable Care Act requiring health-care coverage in 2014, the trend “will most likely continue,” according to the Bonadio report.
The survey also found most respondents (90 percent) reported an increase in health-care costs. Only seven percent indicated a decrease in their health-care expense.
Most of the responding firms are either offering their employees health-maintenance organization (HMO) or preferred-provider organization (PPO) plans. Traditional plans are down 70 percent from the 2011 survey and health-savings accounts (HSA) have increased from 10 percent in 2009 to 33 percent in 2013.
For health-care coverage of a given family, the report indicated small firms covered 83 percent of the premium cost; mid-sized firms covered 61 percent; and large firms covered 83 percent of health-insurance costs.
The respondents indicated reducing their health-care costs is the biggest concern about their overall benefits package, Cresswell says.
The survey asked respondents to consider 10 options for methods of controlling health-care costs. Of those options, respondents indicated “significant interest” in redesigning their health plan (35 percent), increasing employee-payroll contribution (31 percent), and increasing employee cost sharing (44 percent), according to the report.
About one quarter of the respondents also indicated significant interest in implementing health-savings accounts.
Cresswell doesn’t foresee construction firms providing family coverage at 80 percent of the cost in the future because of the overall expense.
“The cost of insurance is just growing exponentially, it’s crazy,” he says.
About the respondents
The Bonadio Group sought responses from small (under $10 million in annual revenue), medium (between $10 million and $50 million), and large (more than $50 million) contractors.
Small firms provided 46 percent of the responses; medium-sized firms, 39 percent; and the large firms provided 10 percent of the responses, according to The Bonadio Group.
The categories of contractors included those focused on construction management, general construction, heavy highway, mechanical, and specialty contractors. The specialty contractors focused on areas including electrical; environmental; plumbing and heating, air conditioning, and ventilation; roofing and siding; and utilities, according to the Bonadio report.
Just over half (51 percent) of the respondents are specialty contractors, 24 percent are general contractors, 21 percent focus on heavy-highway projects, and the remaining respondents are construction managers.
Only six percent of responding firms have headquarters in Central New York, and three percent have their headquarters in the Southern Tier. About half the respondents have headquarters in Western New York, and another 35 percent are headquartered in the Capital District.
Since 2013 is an odd-numbered year, this survey focused on construction firms’ benefits and compensation. In even-numbered years, the focuses on the state of the industry, Cresswell says.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com