Start Date
18-11-2020 1:30 PM
End Date
18-11-2020 3:00 PM
Type of Work
Poster
Description
Objective: Full-time public academic medical librarians are often provided with an employer-sponsored retirement plan, a vital benefit to ensure long-term financial stability, particularly as COVID-19 restricts salary raises. Most of these librarians are classified as either faculty or exempt staff. One retirement option is the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), a defined contribution plan where the employer and often the employee contribute. This study will assess whether public academic institutions in the Southeastern Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (SEA/NNLM) provide equivalent ORP benefits compared to peer institutions in other regions of the country.
Methods: States were split into eight geographic groupings, based on established NNLM Regional Medical Library regions. Researchers gathered pertinent data on each public academic system or institution; information was only obtained for plans that a new employee could enroll in. Because some institutions’ contributions are based on age and/or salary, this study uses a 35 yr. old individual earning $60,000 annually. Lack of publicly available data prevented researchers from considering private institutions.
Results: Nationally, 47 states plus the District of Columbia offer ORP style plans. Employer contributions averaged 9.13% and employee contributions averaged 6.17% across all regions. All public academic institutions in the SEA/NNLM offer ORP plans. In the SEA/NNLM, the 95% confidence interval falls between 6.04% and 9.22% for employer contributions and 3.22% to 6.59% for employee contributions.
Conclusions: As a region, the Southeast Atlantic (SEA/NNLM) ranks last in average employer contributions; required employee contributions are also below the national average. All states in SEA/NNLM, aside from North Carolina, offer immediate vesting, a welcome development for an increasingly mobile workforce. ORP plans form an important component of an employee’s total compensation, particularly with COVID-19 halting pay increases.
Maximizing compensation for public academic medical librarians: Retirement plan benefits in the SEA/NNLM compared to other NNLM regions
Objective: Full-time public academic medical librarians are often provided with an employer-sponsored retirement plan, a vital benefit to ensure long-term financial stability, particularly as COVID-19 restricts salary raises. Most of these librarians are classified as either faculty or exempt staff. One retirement option is the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), a defined contribution plan where the employer and often the employee contribute. This study will assess whether public academic institutions in the Southeastern Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (SEA/NNLM) provide equivalent ORP benefits compared to peer institutions in other regions of the country.
Methods: States were split into eight geographic groupings, based on established NNLM Regional Medical Library regions. Researchers gathered pertinent data on each public academic system or institution; information was only obtained for plans that a new employee could enroll in. Because some institutions’ contributions are based on age and/or salary, this study uses a 35 yr. old individual earning $60,000 annually. Lack of publicly available data prevented researchers from considering private institutions.
Results: Nationally, 47 states plus the District of Columbia offer ORP style plans. Employer contributions averaged 9.13% and employee contributions averaged 6.17% across all regions. All public academic institutions in the SEA/NNLM offer ORP plans. In the SEA/NNLM, the 95% confidence interval falls between 6.04% and 9.22% for employer contributions and 3.22% to 6.59% for employee contributions.
Conclusions: As a region, the Southeast Atlantic (SEA/NNLM) ranks last in average employer contributions; required employee contributions are also below the national average. All states in SEA/NNLM, aside from North Carolina, offer immediate vesting, a welcome development for an increasingly mobile workforce. ORP plans form an important component of an employee’s total compensation, particularly with COVID-19 halting pay increases.