Pay is up for line workers and others in Continuing Care Retirement Communities.
According to the new 2019 CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Communities) Salary & Benefits Report, pay is up for employees at all levels in this sector of the long-term care industry. The biggest salary winners were line workers. For instance, Certified Nursing Aides (CNAs) enjoyed an average 4.1% pay hike, and kitchen porters saw a pay boost of 5.3%. Sous chefs/cooks and dietary aides received an average 4.8% raise.
CCRC C-suiters and management received more modest pay boosts. Executive director salaries went up 3.9% in 2019 to an average $172,806. Salaries for CCRC nursing home administrators rose an average 1.7% to about $116,648 annually. Assistant administrators saw their pay go up about 0.5% to $78,226. Director of nursing salaries went up 2.4%, and directors of food service saw their pay rise about 2.6%. Directors of information technology faired better, with salary increases of 3.7% for an average annual pay of $94,398.
Perhaps in part because pay went up, the report said, turnover was down. For top executives, turnover dropped from 20.2% in 2018 to 7.7% this year. Turnover also went down for marketing staff to 13.5% (down from 31.6% in 2018). RN, LPN, CNA turnover is down, but it’s still high—31% for RNs, 26% for LPNs, and 41% for CNAs.
In other salary news, earlier this year a report on planned salary increases for long-term care corporate executives in 2019 found that top HR executives in multi-facility organizations could expect to earn between $115,249 and $297,647—depending on the company’s size and revenues. That same report found that 98% of long-term care systems offer 401(k)/403(b) plans, with employees reporting an average match amounting to 4.25% of salary and a maximum contribution of 4.6%.
In January, a salary report about resident assistants (RAs) in assisted living facilities (ALFs) showed a 4.05% increase in hourly rates in 2018. The national average hourly rate for RAs in ALFs with up to 89 beds was $11.46, compared to $12.88 in ALFs with 90-plus beds. The national combined hourly rate was $11.74.