FRINGE BENEFITS

by Dr. William O'Brien Southern Illinois University

(Editor's Note: This is the continuation of the November/December article on "Salaries of full-time park and recreation professionals in Illinois").

Data relative to selected fringe benefits are presented in Tables 6-9 for Park and Recreation districts. The tables reflect data in the four assessed valuations used in this study. The findings are presented in terms of percentages or, for some benefits, the high, low, and average for that particular benefit. It should be pointed out that these data, while not difficult to interpret, have to be used with some degree of caution because of the widespread policies among the responding departments.

Some respondents did not include their program, as evidenced by their failure to complete the entire questionnaire or certain parts of the instrument. This can be interpreted in many ways. For example, they may not have had a policy, and another consideration might be that in individual cases, evaluations are made of the person's contribution in the benefit and a decision reached without a clearcut policy supporting the decision. For example, it is a little surprising to this investigator to learn that some of the departments do not have the IMRF Pension but list other pensions. Along the same line, some departments do not have 100% IMRF for Chief Executives, but do have for the Administrative and Supervisory Staff.

It is recommended that as one reads and reviews the charts to keep the above cautions in mind and simply place their reaction to the data upon the fact that whatever assessed valuation their department has, the data for that category are based upon approximately 25 to 30 respondents who reported the data.

The personnel categories used in this presentation are: Chief Executive; Administrative/Supervisory Staff; and Other Full-Time Staff. These titles will be used in presenting the findings.

Presentation of Data

The data presented in Tables 6-9 will be reported with comments by the investigator and description using general data for the presentation. The interpretation and presentation will be the composite of all departments in all assessed valuation categories. The reason for this is simply that an analysis of each table would make this report too long for the purposes for which it was intended.

Vacation

Generally, all departments have about the same vacation policies. The average vacation for the 'Chief Executive' after the first year is 10 days; for the two-five years, it is 14; for 6-10 years, it is 18; after 10 years, it is 21. Singling out the high and low range for after 10 years, this would be 30 to 10. The 'Administrative and Supervisory Staff' have approximately the same averages and approximately the same range. 'Other Full-Time Staff' enjoy about the same amount of vacation with perhaps one day difference in the average and in the range of high to low. The 'Chief Executive' and the 'Administrative and Supervisory Staff' are almost identical in amount of vacation when each assessed valuation category is considered.

Sick Leave and Pensions

In each personnel category under consideration the average was 12 sick leave days per year. The range was from 60 to 5, but it is assumed by this investigator that this means the total accumulative number is 60. This is a very difficult benefit to interpret without going into extreme detail. It appears that probably 1 1/2 days per month would be the rate of most of the policies which the departments have for building up the sick leave benefit.

The data revealed that pensions were provided approximately 80% of the time for the 'Chief Executive,' 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff,' and 'Other Full-Time Staff' in departments with assessed value of under $100,000,000. In the departments with assessed valuations of over $200,000,000, the percentage was 100% for all personnel categories investigated. This investigator is somewhat surprised that a higher percentage in the departments with an assessed valuation of under $100,000,000 did not have a higher percentage for pensions provided.

To the question regarding the type of pensions provided, the IMRF was provided in approximately 98% of the cases. The lowest percentage was 78% for the departments under $50,000,000. Other pensions listed include savings plans, teacher pension which was not explained, and a percentage of salary without an explanation. With the freedom of comment that this investigator has assumed, it would appear that the vacation, sick leave, and pension policies are more attractive in 1975 than in 1973 with a percentage gain of approximately 9% for the pension, about the same for sick leave, and a slight gain in vacation days.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 31 January/February, 1976

1975 FRINGE BENEFIT STUDY

Table 6 Assessed Valuation of Under $50,000,000

Benefit	Chief Executive			Adm./Supervisory Staff			Other Full-Time Staff
Days of Vacation Per Year	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average
After 1 year	14	7	12	14	7	10	14	7	10
2-5 years	28	10	15	21	10	13	21	7	13
6-10 years	30	14	18	21	14	14	21	14	15
After 10 years	30	14	22	28	14	20	28	14	20
Days of Sick Leave Per Year	High 42	Low 5	Average 12	High 42	Low 5	Average 12	High 42	Low 5	Average 13
Pension Provided	Yes% 77		No% 23	Yes% 81		No% 19	Yes% 73		No % 27
If Yes, Type of Pension	IMRF% 78		Other % 22	IMRF % 100		Other % 0	IMRF% 91		Other % 9
Life Insurance Provided	Yes% 43		No % 57	Yes % 40		No % 60	Yes% 40		No % 60
Hospital Insurance Provided	Yes% 78		No% 22	Yes% 81		No % 19	Yes% 57		No% 43
a. If yes, does employer pay all	Yes% 78		No% 22	Yes% 69		No % 31	Yes% 89		No% 11
b. % paid by employer	High 76	Low 50	Average 58	High 75	Low 50	Average 58	High none	Low none	Average none
c. Does employer pay for all dependent insurance	Yes % 59		No% 41	Yes% 53		No % 47	Yes% 45		No% 55
d. % paid by employer	High 100	Low 50	Average 82	High 100	Low 50	Average 75	High 100	Low 50	Average 75
Convention Expenses	Yes %		No%	Yes%		No %	Yes%		No%
NRPA	45		55	45		55	14		86
State	92		8	86		14	14		86
Workshop	91		9	100		0	40		60
Other	91		9	93		7	44		56
Residence Provided	Yes% 9		No% 91	Yes % 0		No% 100	Yes% none		No% none
Vehicle Provided	Yes% 50		No% 50	Yes% 80		No % Some 14 6	Yes% none		No% none
a. If no,is a car allowance given	Yes% 80		No % 20	Yes% 71		No% 29	1 Yes
b. Average amount per month	High $65	Low $25	Average $38	High $50	Low $10	Average $25	High -	Low -	Average .10/mile

Table 7 Assessed Valuation of $50-100.000,000

Benefit	Chief Executive			Adm./Supervisory Staff			Other Full-Time Staff
Days of Vacation Per Year	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average
After 1 year	15	5	10	14	5	10	14	5	9
2-5 years	21	10	14	21	10	14	21	10	13
6-10 years	21	10	17	21	10	17	21	10	15
After 10 years	28	14	22	28	14	21	28	14	20
Days of Sick Leave Per Year	High 60	Low 5	Average 13	High 60	Low 5	Average 13	High 30	Low 5	Average 11
Pension Provided	Yes% 74		No % 26	Yes% 74		No% 26	Yes % 69		No % 31
If Yes, Type of Pension	IMRF % 96		Other % 4	IMRF% 96		Other % 4	IMRF % 95		Other % 5
Life Insurance Provided	Yes% 67		No % 33	Yes% 67		No% 33	Yes% 66		No% 34
Hospital Insurance Provided	Yes % 97		No % 3	Yes% 97		No% 3	Yes% 90		No% 1
a. If yes, does employer pay all	Yes% 91		No % 9	Yes% 90		No% 10	Yes% 86		No% 14
b. % paid by employer	High 50	Low 50	Average 50	High 50	Low 50	Average 50	High 90	Low 50	Average 63
c. Does employer pay for all dependent insurance	Yes % 81		No% 19	Yes% 68		No% 32	Yes% 71		No % 29
d. % paid by employer	High 100	Low 50	Average 93	High 100	Low 50	Average 90	High 100	Low 50	Average 92
Convention Expenses	Yes %		No %	Yes%		No%	Yes%		No %
NRPA	82		18	43		57	17		83
State	100		0	89		11	61		39
Workshop	97		3	96		4	71		29
Other	97		3	92		8	65		35
Residence Provided	Yes % 14		No % 86	Yes% 4	No% 80	Some 10	Yes% none		No% none
Vehicle Provided	Yes % 66		No % 34	Yes% 19	N0% 58	Some 23	Yes% none		No% none
a. If no, is a car allowance given	Yes % 83		No % 17	Yes% 80		No% 20	Yes% none		No % none
b. Average amount per month	High $150	Low $20	Average $61	High $75	Low $20	Average $45	High none	Low none	Average none

Illinois Parks and Recreation 32 January/ February 1976

Life Insurance

The departments reporting indicated that some degree of life insurance was provided. The range was from 42% for all personnel in departments with an assessed valuation of under $50,000,000 up to an average of 83% for departments in the area of $200,000,000 and over. Departments with over $200,000,000 valuation were 100%. In this same valuation category, all staff were provided insurance at the same percentage, there was fluctuation for the category of 'Other Full-Time Staff.' This category consistently had the lower percentage for provisions for life insurance.

Hospital Insurance

Hospital insurance was provided for personnel in all staff categories in at least 57% of the departments studied. The average for all personnel in the under $50,000,000 valuation was 82%, except for 'Other Full-Time Staff' where 57% were provided insurance. All other departments in the various valuation categories reported about 98% of all staff received hospital insurance.

In departments providing hospital insurance, 81-96% of the departments paid all premiums, with the exception of premiums for 'Other Full-Time Staff' in the under $50,000,000 assessed valuation category. Of these, 57% were provided with all premiums for hospital insurance.

In departments providing some premiums, the average amount paid was 54% for 'Chief Executives' and 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff' in departments with assessed valuation of under $50,000,000 and $50-100,000,000; 87% for those departments having over $100,000,000 valuation. Personnel in the 'Other Full-Time Staff' category averaged 'none' in the $50-100,000,000 valuation, 63% in the under $50,000,000, and 73% in all over $100,000,000.

Dependent Insurance

The employer paid the insurance premiums for all dependents in 52% of the cases for staff in departments with an assessed valuation of under $50,000,000; approximately 73% for personnel in the $50-100,000,000 assessed valuation category; and 83% in the $100-200,000,000 category; and 64% for all staff in the over $200,000,000 category. The 'Chief Executive' and 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff' enjoyed the highest percentages in all valuation categories.

When the department did not pay all the premiums, the average amount paid by the department was about 78% for all personnel in the under $50,000,0000 and $100-200,000,000 categories; about 93% average in the $50-100,000,000 category and also in the over $200,000,000 assessed valuation category.

Convention Expenses

Convention expenses were provided for State and area workshops for all personnel except 'Other Full-Time Staff' at the average rate of 90-100% of expenses being paid. The range for the NRPA was from 45% in departments under $50,000,000 to about 92% of all other departments, especially for the 'Chief Executive'; the average was approximately 50% for the 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff' and 'Other Full-Time Staff' when all departments are considered. The investigator would comment that expenses were also paid at the rather high average of 95% for special workshops and professional meetings, etc. It should be pointed out that the category of 'Other Full-Time Staff' did not enjoy a high level average of convention expenses paid as did the 'Chief Executive' and 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff.' They did receive expenses for workshops and local meetings ranging from 40% to 95%.

Residence

It appears from the data that a residence was not a major benefit. In departments having over $100,000,000 assessed valuation 30% of the 'Chief Executives' were provided with a residence. A low of 9% of the 'Chief Executives' in departments having an assessed valuation of under $50,000,000 were provided with a residence. The other executives averaged about 15%. No residences were recorded for 'Other Full-Time Staff' in any of the valuation categories; 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff' were reported to average about 4% for the $50-100,000,000 assessed valuation category and 15% for the over $200,000,000.

Vehicle

Vehicles were provided for the 'Chief Executive' in 50% of the departments under $50,000,000; 66% in $50-100,000,000; 96% in the $100-200,000,000; and 83% in the over $200,000,000 category. The Administrative/Supervisory Staff' were provided vehicles in 80% of the departments in the under $50,000,000; 19% in the $50-100,000,000; 35% in the $100-200,000,000; and 55% in the over $200,000,000 category. The departments did not provide vehicles for 'Other Full-Time Staff.'

When departments did not provide a vehicle, 82% of the 'Chief Executives' in the categories under $100,000,000 were given an allowance, and 58% of the 'Chief Executives' in the other categories were given an allowance. In departments having a valuation of under $100,000,000, car allowances were provided in 75% of the cases for 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff,' in all other valuation categories. No car allowances were reported for 'Other Full-Time Staff' in any of the valuation categories.

Average Amounts of Car Allowance

The average amount of car allowances reported for 'Chief Executives' in departments in the assessed valuation categories of under $50,000,000 was $38; the average was $61 per month for 'Chief Executives' in $50-100,000,000; $75 per month for the 'Chief Executives' in the valuation category $100-200,000,000; $281 per month for 'Chief Executives' in the category of over $200,000,000. (This figure, was influenced by the small number reporting, and one of them had a high of $841 per month.) The average for 'Administrative/ Supervisory Staff' ranged from $25 per month to $53 per month. The overall average was $45 per month for 'Administrative/Supervisory Staff' for all categories. The 'Other Full-Time Staff' were reported to have, in some cases, a 10 cents per mile allocation.

Other Benefits

It was reported that departments did, in some cases, have other benefits than the ones involved in this particular study. These included paid holidays, ranging from 2 days to 9 days; free use of facilities and program registration; educational expenses for directors and supervisors, ranging from $150 to $300 per year; and certain fees were paid by the department for the various staff people for various activities. Family participation benefits were reported, in that members of the professional staffs' families received free registration and fees for program activities.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 33 January/February, 1976

1975 FRINGE BENEFIT STUDY

Table 8 Assessed Valuation of $100-200,000,000

Benefit	Chief Executive			Adm./Supervisory Staff			Other Full-Time Staff
Days of Vacation Per Year	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average
After 1 year	21	5	11	14	5	10	14	5	10
2-5 years	21	10	14	21	10	13	21	10	12
6-10 years	21	15	19	21	14	17	21	15	17
After 10 years	28	15	21	28	15	20	28	15	20
Days of Sick Leave Per Year	High 18	Low 5	Average 11	High 18	Low 5	Average 12	High 18	Low 5	Average 11
Pension Provided	Yes% 100		No% 0	Yes% 100		No% 0	Yes% 100		No% 0
If Yes, Type of Pension	IMRP% 100		Other % 0	IMRF % 100		Other % 0	IMRF% 100		Other % 0
Life Insurance Provided	Yes% 85		No% 15	Yes % 85		No% 15	Yes% 85		No% 15
Hospital Insurance Provided	Yes% 100		No% 0	Yes% 100		No% 0	Yes% 100		No% 0
a. If yes, does employer pay all	Yes% 96		No% 4	Yes % 96		No % 4	Yes% 96		No% 4
b. % paid by employer	High 90	Low 88	Average 89	High 90	Low 88	Average 89	High 90	Low 88	Average 89
c. Does employer pay for all dependent insurance	Yes% 80		No% 20	Yes % 74		No % 26	Yes% 70		No% 30
d. % paid by employer	High 100	Low 60	Average 94	High 100	Low 50	Average 92	High 100	Low 50	Average 92
Convention Expenses	Yes%		No%	Yes%		No%	Yes%		No%
NRPA	96		4	61		39	21		79
State	100		0	96		4	71		29
Workshop	100		0	100		0	95		5
Other	100		0	100		0	95		5
Residence Provided	Yes% 17		No% 83	Yes% 0	No% 92	Some 8	Yes% none		No% none
Vehicle Provided	Yes% 96		No% 4	Yes% 35	No% 38	Some 27	Yes% none		No% none
a. If no, is a car allowance given	Yes% 50		N0% 50	Yes% 94		No% 6	Yes% none		No% none
b. Average amount per month	High $75	Low $75	Average $75	High $75	Low $10	Average $38	High none	Low none	Average none

Table 9 Assessed Valuation of Over $200,000,000

Benefit	Chief Executive			Adm. /Supervisory Staff			Other Full-Time Staff
Days of Vacation Per Year	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average	High	Low	Average
After 1 year	21	0	11	14	0	10	14	0	10
2-5 years	21	10	14	21	7	12	21	7	12
6-10 years	28	10	17	28	10	17	21	10	17
After 10 years	28	10	21	28	10	21	28	10	21
Days of Sick Leave Per Year	High 36	Low 7	Average 13	High 36	Low 7	Average 13	High 36	Low 7	Average 13
Pension Provided	Yes% 100		No% 0	Yes% 100		No% 0	Yes% 100		No% 0
If Yes, Type of Pension	IMRF % 97		Other % 3	IMRF% 97		Other % 3	IMRF% 97		Other % 3
Life Insurance Provided	Yes% 79		No% 21	Yes% 79		No% 21	Yes% 79		No% 21
Hospital Insurance Provided	Yes% 97		No% 3	Yes% 97		No% 3	Yes% 97		No% 3
a. If yes, does employer pay all	Yes % 93		No % 7	Yes % 93		No% 7	Yes % 93		No% 7
b. % paid by employer	High 80	Low 75	Average 77.5	High 80	Low 75	Average 77.5	High 80	Low 75	Average 77.5
c. Does employer pay for all dependent insurance	Yes% 66		No% 34	Yes% 62		No% 38	Yes% 62		No% 38
d. % paid by employer	High 100	Low 75	Average 94	High 100	Low 75	Average 86	High 100	Low 75	Average 93
Convention Expenses	Yes%		No%	Yes%		No%	Yes%		No%
NRPA	92		8	55		45	60		100
State	100		0	96		4	30		70
Workshop	100		0	92		8	73		27
Other	100		0	100		0	74		26
Residence Provided	Yes % 30		No% 70	Yes% 15	No% 70	Some 15	Yes% none		No% none
Vehicle Provided	Yes% 83		No% 17	Yes% 55	No% 14	Some 31	Yes% none		No% none
a. If no, is a car allowance given	Yes % 63		No% 37	Yes% 78		No% 22	1 Yes
b. Average amount per month	High $840	Low $25	Average $281	High $155	Low $25	Average $53	High none	Low none	Average none

Illinois Parks and Recreation 34 January/ February, 1976