The nominal good news? Twenty% of those questioned said they were having trouble understanding the details of the law vs. 31% in 2010.

Alonso initially described the finding as “astonishing,” though he later softened his comment, terming it merely “interesting.”

Despite these findings, he said SHRM saw no evidence of “any kind of train wreck” – which is how some critics of the law in Congress and others have described their concerns.

“It's clear there are certain perspectives about the law but I don't think there's any looming disaster,” he said.

In fact, people are getting ahead of the law, according to SHRM's research.

For example, more employers are offering contraceptive coverage today rather than waiting for implementation deadlines to arrive Jan. 1.

According to the study, 82% of surveyed employers now offer such coverage, up from 66% in 2009.

The PPACA requires that preventive services, including birth control, be included in new health insurance plans.

Another provision of the law requires employers with more than 50 employees to provide private space or lactation rooms for nursing mothers. The SHRM report showed that one-third of employers (34%) now have a separate lactation or mother's room that goes above and beyond the law, an increase from 25% in 2009.

The 2013 Employee Benefits Research Report also found that one-quarter of employers in states that have legalized same-sex marriage now offer domestic partner benefits, excluding health care coverage. That's an increase from 15% last year and 14% in 2009.

The survey of 518 randomly selected HR professionals examines 299 benefits. Among other findings:

• Employee referral bonuses are up, with 47% of surveyed organizations now offering such bonuses, up from 38% in 2012.

• Organizations are developing their employees' skill sets with professional development opportunities (offered by 88% of employers), cross-training to develop skills not directly related to employees' current jobs (44%) and formal mentoring programs (20%). Offsite professional development opportunities are offered by 85% of organizations surveyed.

• Paid-time-off plans and wellness benefits continued to increase in popularity, while housing and relocation benefits were less common.

• The most commonly offered benefits were: prescription drug program coverage (98% of organizations offered them), paid holidays (97%), dental insurance (96%) and defined contribution retirement savings plans (92%).

• Among health care and welfare benefits, the majority of employers provide mental health coverage (89%), and the most common type of health insurance was a preferred provider organization (PPO) plan (86%).

This article was originally posted at BenefitsPro.com, a sister site of Credit Union Times.