THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1 Employee Benefits Interest Survey November 2001

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2 Executive Summary - Background The County HR Department wanted to determine employee attitudes toward their benefit plan, including: X Satisfaction with current programs. X How they believe benefits compare with other employers. X Additional benefits they would like to have. The results of the survey will be used to help make policy decisions regarding County benefits.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3 Executive Summary - Methodology 4,665 surveys distributed in electronic & hard copies. X 46.7% response rate (2,177 returned) X Typical is 18-20%

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4 Executive Summary - Major Findings Perception of County benefits: Job applicants to County positions generally believe County benefits are competitive in today’s market. While the majority of employees believe the County’s benefits are better or the same as other employers’ at all stages of their career, those viewing benefits as worse increases slightly after the five years of on the job. Job applicants indicate they are more willing than employees to work for better benefits, even if it means lower pay.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5 Executive Summary - Major Findings Perception of County benefits: All three medical plans showed a high degree of overall satisfaction with their benefits, with the Health Net POS showing a slightly lower satisfaction level than the other two plans (18%). Of the two dental plans, there was substantial dissatisfaction with the HMO (40%).

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 6 Executive Summary - Major Findings Top six desired benefit enhancements: (as determined by the percentage of respondents who ranked these as “Very interested” or “Interested”)  Improve retirement benefits %  Increase County retirement offset %  Increase County contribution toward employee medical coverage %  Increase County benefit cash allowance % X Increase County contribution toward employee dental coverage %  Add or increase deferred comp contribution by County into a supplemental 401(a) %

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 7 Introduction The County of Santa Barbara faces tough competition for employees in the public sector X Benefits are a key selling point in attracting new hires County officials want to: X Maximize the selling points of the County’s Benefit Program X Continue to develop a program that helps recruit & retain employees

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 8 Introduction - continued The County employs roughly 4,000 active employees. Benefits are centralized at the main office in Santa Barbara. Employees are scattered 70 miles along the coast from Santa Maria to lower Ventura.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 9 Objective Objective of the survey was to determine employee attitudes about the County’s employee benefit programs, including: X Perceptions of the current program X How County benefits compare against other employers X What additional benefits would be most valued

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1010 Description of the Study - Research Strategy This electronic survey gathered information in two ways: X Quantitative data - statistical analysis of survey questions (full summary of all responses are included in the Frequency Report in the Appendix) X Qualitative data - written comments from the survey This was the first electronic benefit survey distributed to County employees and selected job applicants. Survey was distributed to virtually all employees.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1 Who Responded: Men vs. Women? The employees responding to the survey reflect the same age demographics of the workforce and therefore are a representative sample. A larger percentage of women responded (62%). X This reflects the higher percentage (57%) of women in the County workforce.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1212 Who Responded: How old were they? The majority of the respondents were between the ages of 40 and 49 X A key consideration when looking at results with regard to important benefits, such as retirement 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% % of Total Respondents (2,040 Respondents)

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1313 Who Responded: Where do they live? 52% of respondents live in North County: Santa Maria Lompoc Buellton/Santa Ynez San Luis Obispo 45% of respondents live in South County Santa Barbara Ventura County

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1414 Who Responded: By Association

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1515 Who Responded: By Association

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1616 Who Responded: Are they married?

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1717 Who Responded: Do they have children? How many children do you have age 22 or younger and dependent on you for at least 50% of their support?

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1818 Who Responded: How long with the County?

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 1919 Who Responded: How much longer do you plan to work for the County?

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2020 Perception of County Benefits “How do you think the County’s benefits for your occupation compare to those of other employers?” X 67% of all respondents believe the benefits are better or about the same as those provided by other employers

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2121 Perception of County Benefits - Length of Service Applicants, as a group, felt that the County’s benefits where as good or better than other employers’ benefits … although they also had the largest number of “no opinion responses,” indicative of a lack of familiarity with the County plan. Employees have the highest opinion of County benefits in their first five years of employment. The high overall level of satisfaction, while still majority opinion, is generally reduced as their employment period lengthens, possibly due to reduced familiarity with the details of other employers’ benefit plans.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2 Perception of Benefits - By Union Total Percentage Responding “Generally Better” or “Same” 1. Sheriffs' Manager Association - 92% 8. Engineers & Technicians Association - 61% 2. Confidential-Unrepresented Employees - 78% 9. Union of American Physicians and Dentists - 60% 3. SEIU, Local % 10. Deputy District Attorneys Association - 55% 4. Management Association - 69% 11. Probation Peace Officers Association - 47% 5. Executive Association - 68% 12. Deputy Sheriffs Association - 43% 6. SEIU, Local % 13. Firefighters Association, Local % 7. Applicant - Does Not Apply - 63%

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2323 Perception of Benefits - By Union Of the four largest groups (100 respondents or more), in all but one, 60% of the respondents or more say County benefits are “better” or “the same” as other employers: X SEIU Local 620 (895 respondents) - 73% X SEIU Local 535 (281 respondents) - 68% X Deputy Sheriffs Association (233 respondents) - 43% X Management Association (131 respondents) - 69%

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2424 Perception of Benefits - By Union Responses among the different organizations show few substantial differences. Average was 2.12, and median was 2 (“about the same”). X Since a very small number of responses were received from the groups with the highest and lowest percentages of positive responses, it is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions from those groups. Group that thinks the County compares best against other employers: Sheriffs Manager Association, with 25 respondents (1.2% of total). Group that thinks the County compares worst against other employers: Fire Fighters Association with 20 respondents (less than 1% of total).

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2525 Enrollment in County Health Insurance Plans 69.5% of County respondents have spouses or domestic partners X 32.3% choose to cover their partner on a County health insurance plan Half of the respondents (49.9%) have dependent children eligible for coverage X 25.7% of all respondents choose family or self and children coverage 10.4% of respondents are not enrolled in County health insurance plans

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2626 Members Not Covered by County Health Insurance Plans A total of 34% of members who chose against taking County benefits felt they were getting a better price through a spouse’s or partner’s plan Only 10% believe the spouse’s plan has better coverage

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2727 Benefits vs. Salary Respondents said they were moderately in favor of ranking benefits over salary: Agree - 40% Neutral - 36% Disagree - 24%

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2828 Salary vs. Benefits by Gender There was no substantial difference in the responses between men and women with regard to ranking benefits over salary.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 2929 Salary vs. Benefits by Gender When the question was rephrased to offer a choice between increasing salary vs. improving benefits, there was a moderately higher preference by men of salary over benefits, as compared to responses by women.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3030 Perception of Benefits - Applicant vs. Employee

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3131 Perception of Benefits - Applicant vs. Employee There is a direct correlation between applicant vs. employee with regard to perception of benefits. X A higher percentage of applicants over employees feel that the County’s benefits are the same or better than those offered by other employers X Employees with a longer tenure have a somewhat higher perception of other employers’ benefits as being better than the County’s.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3232 Value of Benefits - Applicant vs. Employee Generally, applicants expressed more interest in working for better benefits and lower pay, than any category of employee * Total number answering “Agreed” and “Agreed Strongly” for each category 79*58* 225*165*213*104*

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3 Satisfaction with County Medical Plans Of the three medical plans, there was the least degree of satisfaction with the Health Net POS benefits (18%).

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3434 Satisfaction with County Medical Plans - By area Overall 53% of those enrolled answered “satisfied” or “very satisfied” North County South County

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3535 Satisfaction with County Dental Plans Of the two dental plans, there was substantial dissatisfaction with the HMO (40%).

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3636 Satisfaction with County Dental Plans - By area Overall 46% of those enrolled answered “satisfied” or “very satisfied” North County South County

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3737 Satisfaction with the Medical HMO Choice of Providers A total of 48% of participants were not satisfied with their choice of medical providers.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3838 Satisfaction with the Dental HMO Choice of Providers In a similar fashion, 44% participants were unhappy with the choice of dental HMO providers.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 3939 Survey Results: What Employees Value Most

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4040 Survey Results: What Employees Value Most The most popular account was the cash allowance for benefits, with 72.6% of respondents ranking it as most important or important.

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4141 Survey Results: What Employees Appreciate 98% 95% 94% 78% 74% 69% 54% 51% 49% 43% 41% 38% 31% 27%

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4242 Survey Results: What’s Most Important 96% 94% 91% 85% 84% 61% 58% 51% 44% 43% 41% 39% 23%

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4343 Survey Results: What’s Most Important by Employee Group

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4 What Changes Do They Want? All Respondents The top five responses (receiving more than 80% support) include: Improve retirement benefits Increase County retirement offset Increase County contribution toward employee medical coverage Increase County benefit cash allowance Increase County contribution toward dental coverage

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4545 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order SEIU Local #620

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4646 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order SEIU Local #535

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4747 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Engineers and Technicians

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4848 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Firefighters #2046

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 4949 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Deputy Sheriffs

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5050 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Deputy District Attorney

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5151 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Probation Peace Officers

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5252 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Sheriffs’ Managers

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5353 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Union American Physicians & Dentists

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5454 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Confidential-Unrepresented Employees

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Management Association

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5656 Desired Benefit Changes by Rank Order Executive Association

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5757 What Changes Do They Want? Summary In general, the areas in which respondents showed the greatest interest in new or increased benefits, fell into two broad categories: X Retirement X Current medical costs Non-cash benefits, while attracting a great deal of interest, did not get the same level of participant support

THE SEGAL COMPANY County of Santa Barbara 5858 Next Steps The results of this survey will be used in determining benefit policy-making All responses have been kept confidential See the appendices for written comments submitted with the survey