Businesses in the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas are offering their workers new benefits in an attempt to cut their health care costs.

According to a new survey of 160 businesses in the area, conducted by the National Capital Area branch of the Society for Human Resource Management, companies are poised to spend only 26.3% of their compensation budgets on worker benefits this year, the Washington Post reported. The percentage of payroll devoted to benefits has been on a steady decline since SHRM began conducting the poll in 2006, when companies reported spending 32.2% on benefits.

Employers are of course cutting benefit costs in all of the traditional ways by raising health plan deductibles and reducing their contributions to retirement plans. But employers are also introducing less costly benefits that they believe will reduce health care costs in the long-term and keep workers happy.

More companies, for instance, are providing workers longer maternity leave, tuition reimbursement, wellness programs and telecommuting options. Some of the highlights of the survey identified by the Post include:

• 36% of area employers offer a wellness program, compared to 23% in 2007;

• 36% offer paternity leave, compared to 27% in 2013; and

• 91% offer tuition reimbursement, compared to 83% in 2008.