The employer’s contributions for health, dental, and vision premiums were combined to find the value of employer contributions for active employee medical insurance benefits.
3
The medical insurance benefits value also includes any employer contribution to a benefit trust fund for health, dental, or vision insurance purposes.
4
Employer Contributions to Prefunding OPEB
Providing OPEB (retiree medical insurance) is a valuable benefit offered by the State of California and by some local governments. This benefit is most commonly offered after working a minimum number of years.
All the surveyed jurisdictions offer an employer‐subsidized retiree insurance plan or some form of a retiree health savings or reimbursement account for at least some or all of their active or retired employees.
The State of California and Bargaining Unit 6 employees began prefunding retiree health insurance in 2016. Of the six surveyed counties, five contribute to prefunding OPEB or a health savings account for retired employees.
Comparing the 2022 Report With the 2024 Report
The table below compares the state’s total compensation lag in the 2022 report with the 2024 report.
Much of the decline in the state’s total compensation lag was due to a large increase in the state’s retirement costs. The state’s employer contribution rate in the 2022 report was 32.84 percent and increased to 50 percent for this report.5
The state made additional supplanting pension payments in Fiscal Year 2021-2022, which reduced the state’s employer contribution rate from 52.06 percent to 32.84 percent.
6 The Fiscal Year 2023-2024 employer contribution rates were not reduced by additional pension payments and normalized back to the Budget Act Contribution Rate of 50 percent.
7
Glossary of Terms
Entry‐Level Total Compensation: Minimum monthly salary + monthly pay incentives + maximum monthly employer‐paid benefits (medical insurance and retirement).
Full Journey‐Level Total Compensation: Maximum monthly salary + maximum monthly pay incentives + maximum monthly employer‐paid benefits (medical insurance and retirement).
Maximum Salary: Maximum monthly salary of a full journey‐level officer. If the employer includes an Advanced POST incentive as part of the base pay salary, that amount was listed as the maximum salary.
Medical Insurance Benefits: Sum of employer’s maximum/family rate contribution to a cafeteria plan, or health, dental, and vision insurance premiums. The insurance benefits value also includes the employer contribution to a benefit trust fund.
Minimum Salary: Minimum monthly salary of an officer after academy graduation. If the employer includes a Basic POST incentive as part of the base pay salary, that amount was listed as the minimum salary.
Pay Incentives: Minimum or maximum monthly pay differentials refer to the sum of the following pay differentials for entry‐level:
- Physical fitness pay
- Education incentives for an associate degree or 60 college units.
- Basic POST incentives.
Full journey‐level pay differentials include incentives for:
- A bachelor’s degree or highest incentive offered for education pay
- Advanced POST incentives
- Highest incentive available for longevity pay if offered by the employer.
POST Certification: POST issues certificates to peace officers. There are Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced POST certificates awarded to peace officers that have acquired the specified training and experience requirements for each level.
Retirement and Prefunding OPEB Benefits: Sum of employer contributions:
- The employer contribution to retirement
- Employer pick‐up of the employee’s retirement contribution
- The employer’s maximum contribution to the employee’s deferred compensation.
- The employer’s contribution to prefunding OPEB
- The employer’s pickup of the employee’s prefunded OPEB contribution.
OPEB principally includes health care benefits, but also may include dental, vision, life insurance, disability, legal and other
services to eligible retirees, including, in some cases, their beneficiaries.
There are two types of OPEB plans:
- Defined benefit plans under which specific benefits are to be provided to employees and their beneficiaries after the end of their employment.
- Defined contribution plans under which a specific amount is contributed to plan members’ accounts for each year of active employment.
The entry‐level salary calculations include the employer’s retirement cost based on the retirement plan for new employees.
The full journey‐level salary calculations include the employer’s retirement cost based on the classic retirement plan.
Wage: Base salary plus applicable pay incentives.
