Employees in restaurants and hotels are least likely to receive certain work benefits, while those in the public administration area are most likely to get the same benefits, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
Just over half of employees (52 per cent) received one of three named work benefits: a pension, a childcare subsidy or medical cover.
But when such benefits are broken down by employment sector, some 91 per cent of employees in public administration and defence had at least one of the three benefits, falling to just 13 per cent of workers in the hotels and restaurants sector.
The figures are revealed in the Working Conditions Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) for the first quarter of 2008.
The most common benefit provided to employees by their employer was a pension or pension contributions (51 per cent). This compares with just 1 per cent of employees being provided with a crèche or a childcare subsidy.
More than seven out of every 10 employees (72 per cent) had at least one of four listed working arrangements, including sick leave and career breaks, available in their workplace.
Paid sick leave was the most common, with some 64 per cent of employees saying they had such an arrangement in place.
Overall 55 per cent of men received at least one benefit compared with 49 per cent of females.
The survey also said the availability of the listed benefits and working arrangements varied “significantly” according to the characteristics of the employment.
In addition, employees with higher levels of education were more likely to have received at least one of the benefits. Some 67 per cent of employees with a third level education got benefits compared with 40 per cent of employees with primary education or below.
A significantly lower proportion of non-Irish nationals were in receipt of at least one benefit than Irish nationals (29 per cent compared with 57 per cent). The authors said this was primarily driven by the lower proportion of non-Irish nationals in receipt of pension related benefits paid for by their employer.
“This difference was particularly clear in the case of employees from the 12 newer EU member states with just 20 per cent being in receipt of at least one of the benefits compared with 39 per cent of non-Irish nationals from other countries.”
The percentage of employees that were provided with at least one of the listed benefits also increases with the number of years in the job.
According to the authors, an estimated 35 per cent of employees who had been in their current job for up to four years had at least one of the benefits. By comparison, 85 per cent of employees who had been in their current job for 25 years or more had at least one of the benefits provided by their employer.
Just 28 per cent of employees working in an organisation with 10 employees or fewer were provided with at least one of the benefits compared with 56 per cent of those working for larger firms.
A module of questions on working conditions was included in the survey for that quarter. It was developed in conjunction with a liaison group involving representatives from the CSO, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, a number of other Government departments, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
The survey was included in the QNHS in the first quarter of 2008 in response to a request from the social partners, because the range of information available on working conditions here had been considered very limited.
Information emerging from the survey relates to a period of time prior to the current round of pay cuts and changes to other working terms and conditions in the private and public sectors, however.