More than two thirds of all workers in 2001 received some form of benefit, the latest employee survey has revealed.

The CURE (Commission for Unity and Racial Equality) annual review of the workforce showed that a massive 69 percent of workers were given some kind of bonus or incentive during last year.

"By far, annual bonuses continued to be the preferred method by which employers rewarded their employees," said the report.

"In fact, all other benefits combined did not equal the total of the annual bonuses."

One third of all employees received a bonus last year, which was down just slightly from 2000.

Some eight percent of the workforce received stock options, which was up by one percent on the year previous.

There was a big drop in people receiving travel allowance, from six percent in 2000 to just two percent in 2001, and mortgage subsidies also fell by one percent, with only four percent of the workforce being given the incentive last year.

However, housing allowances rose by one percent, to four out of every 100 workers, and car allowances remained at two percent.

But the report said all was not as it should be when it came to the issue of benefits.

It said: "There was some variation in the way the companies rewarded their employees in 2001. For the most common form of benefit, an annual bonus, a slightly higher percentage of blacks than whites were in receipt of one - 46 percent for blacks and 40 percent for whites.

"With the next most popular benefit, stock options, there was parity among the races with 43 percent each.

"Whites were between four and six times more likely to receive a benefit in the form of either a housing allowance, a car allowance or travel allowance than blacks, which may possibly be a reflection of the predominance of whites among expatriate workers."

However, it stated that blacks were twice as likely to receive a mortgage subsidy than whites, which was 57 percent versus 29 percent.