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January 11, 2017
Representative William Herbkersman
308B Blatt Bldg.
Columbia, SC 29201
Dear Representative Herbkersman,
Please find enclosed two documents requested by Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter for your review.
The first document is a 2016 state employee satisfaction survey of 2, 342 members of the South Carolina State Employees Association (SCSEA). The state employee survey found that 82% disagreed their pay is fair when compared to similar positions outside of state government.
81.6% disagreed their salary is fair for "the duties, responsibilities and education required" for their position. 58% said they have worked an additional job to supplement their family income. Roughly 70% felt their salary affected their morale, productivity, job satisfaction and retention.
Unfortunately, roughly 60% of state employees who took the survey would not recommend to a professionally qualified colleague to seek employment with the state of South Carolina. Results of the study revealed a strong relationship between job satisfaction and employee retention, along with job satisfaction and employee commitment, in addition to salary satisfaction showing a significant effect on retention and commitment.
The second document is the project report from Kenning Consultants who was retained by the South Carolina General Assembly to conduct a (Classification and Compensation System study) state employee pay study. The results from Kenning Consultants confirm that compared with their counterparts in other states and the private sector, state employees in South Carolina are grossly underpaid, making on average, 15 percent less than those doing the same jobs in other states, and almost 20 percent less than in the private sector. State employees in South Carolina are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to pay, ranking in the bottom 10 states nationally according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Not only do South Carolina state employees make less money, they are spending more for health care and retirement benefits comparatively, too. In some states, the overall competiveness of the benefits package offsets lower salaries. That is simply not the case here. As you know, employee retirement contributions were raised recently by .05%. Private sector organizations who offer a Defined Benefit Retirement plan to employees do not require an employee contribution. South Carolina state employees now contribute 9.16% of their salary for retirement making it the highest in the Southeast and over 3% higher than the national average of 5.98%.
Furthermore, state employee salaries have not kept pace with the rising costs of health care, food and other necessities.
The South Carolina Department of Administration reported that 75 percent of state employees, a total of 20, 026 make less than $39, 692 a year. Making less than 40,000 a year is not enough to secure a modest standard of living when factoring in housing, child care, transportation, taxes and other necessities.
The annual budget for one parent and one child to live a "modest standard" in the Columbia, SC area is $43,694. More than 20,000 state employees fall below that level-75%. Many of these employees have 12 to 15 years of service to the state.
Today's economic landscape requires that employers have happy productive employees. When employees are loyal and engaged, productivity is higher.
Conversely, when employees feel unmotivated or undervalued, productivity and mission suffers. The more employees focus on their salaries, the less they will focus on satisfying their intellectual curiosity, learning new skills, or having fun, and those are the very things that make people perform best.
We hope this information is helpful to you in charting the course moving forward. State employees and their families are counting on you. Many thanks for the work that you do.
Sincerely,
Carlton B. Washington
Carlton B. Washington
Executive Director SCSEA
cc: SC Senate Finance Committee
SC House Ways & Means Committee
Mike Shealy
Angie Willis
Blythe Littlefield
Jim Manning, SC State Employees Association appointee
Enclosure: 2016 State Employee Satisfaction Survey
Project Report from Kenning Consultants
SCSEA Charts (3)
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