BANNOCKBURN, IL – A recent IPC wage rate and salary study shows, of 162 US and Canadian EMS and OEM facilities, wage and salary budgets increased at an average rate of 2.5% for hourly employees and 2% for salaried and management employees.

Projected increases for 2016 are slightly above last year’s increases.

Benefit costs in 2015 averaged 19.4% of total wages. Most of the companies that participated in the survey provide retirement benefits to their employees. In 2015, 401k plans were offered by 70% of those companies.

The study also shows reporting companies pay more than half of their employees’ medical insurance premiums, on average. In addition, more than half of the reporting companies offer employees paid leave in the form of personal time off plans.