The salaries of front-line workers at life plan communities rose in the past year, and turnover rates were down for some positions, according to Continuing Care Retirement Community Salary and Benefits Report 2019-2020. The report was published by Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HHCS), in cooperation with LeadingAge.

Questionnaires for the annual publication were sent to approximately 1,800 life plan communities across the country. HHCS received 506 responses, for a response rate of 28%.

Turnover Rates

Overall turnover rates reached 35.6% for all categories of workers included in the survey.

The lowest turnover rates were seen among top-level executives. Those rates declined from 20.2% in 2018 to 7.7% in 2019.

Marketing jobs also experienced a decline in turnover, moving from 31.6% in 2018 to 13.5% in 2019. Marketing representatives and marketing coordinators received only modest salary increases (1.9% and 1.1%, respectively) during that period. Directors of marketing received a 2.4% increase in salary, from $82,462 in 2018 to $84,420 in 2019.

The highest turnover rates were reported for these employees:

• Dining services: 43.7%.
• Certified nursing aides (CNA): 40.7%.
• Registered nurses (RN): 31%.
• Environmental Services: 28.8%
• Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN): 26.3%

Interestingly, the turnover rates for RNs, LPNs, and CNAs actually dipped slightly between 2018 and 2019.

Hourly Rates

Frontline workers received higher-percentage pay increases, in general, than their supervisors between 2018 and 2019. For example:

• CNAs received an average pay raise of 4.1%, compared to directors of nursing, whose pay rose by 2.4%.
• Kitchen porters received an average increase of 5.3%, and pay for sous cooks and dietary aides increased by 4.8%. By comparison, directors of food services only saw a 2.6% average pay hike.

Average Salaries

Salaries for executive directors rose 3.9%—from $166,252 to $172,806—between 2018 and 2019. Other executives were not as lucky.

• Nursing home administrators, on average, saw salary increases of only 1.5%, from $114,746 to $116,648.
• The average salaries of directors of assisted living/personal care increased 2%, from $73,863 to $75,329.

The highest-percent pay raises went to housekeeping supervisors (5%), while the lowest-percent increase went to nursing home assistant administrators (.5%).

Directors of information technology (IT) saw their salaries rise 3.7% to $94,398. The 2018 pay increase for IT directors was 2.7%.

Dementia managers saw average salary increases of 4.2%, with pay rising from $57,553 in 2018 to $59,964 in 2019.

Discount for LeadingAge Members

Continuing Care Retirement Community Salary and Benefits Report 2019-2020 provides:

• Salary data by total unit size, revenue size, state, and Core-based Statistical Area (CBSA).
• Hourly data by total unit size, state, and CBSA.
• Salary/pay ranges by region.
• Fringe benefits.

LeadingAge members can order the report for $275, a discount from the report’s standard $350 price. To order, visit the HCS website or call (201) 405-0075.