November 16, 2022
Wages for care at home workers are rising and using signing bonuses to attract new workers is increasingly common, according to the latest Home Care Salary & Benefits report from Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service, which is published in cooperation with NAHC.
The report is based on responses from over 860 U.S. home health agencies.
Out of almost 60 job titles, licensed practical nurses (LPNs) saw the biggest hike in pay for home-based care workers, with hourly rates rising 9.57 percent to $27.74 in the last year. Turnover among LPNs fell slightly from 2021 to 2022.
The highest pay for LPNs is, perhaps not surprisingly, in California, where the average hourly rate is $34.27. The lowest hourly rates for LPNs are in Missouri, at $23.58.
At the higher end of the pay scale, physical therapists received hourly wages of $49.38, speech pathologists received $45, and occupational therapists received $44.69.
Home care aides received an increase in pay of 8.96 percent and administrative assistants saw a hike of 8.57 percent in pay.
More than half of all agencies reported the offered signing bonuses to attract workers in a very tight labor market, while another 13 percent said that they did not previously offer such bonuses, but plan to do so in the near future.
The average signing bonus to registered nurses (RNs) was $6569 (up 5.6 percent), while LPN bonuses rose almost ten percent to $4464, and home care aides received an average bonus of almost $2100, an increase of nine percent.
Perhaps the increase in pay and bonuses is resulting in a turnover rate that is still too high at over 30 percent, but still falling. The turnover rate for LPNs fell from 36.54 percent to 30.25 percent, and from 32.35 percent down to 31.19 percent for RNs, according to the report.
Not surprisingly, the turnover rate for home care aides was higher, at 35.42 percent, but that’s also down from over 38 percent a year ago.
Source: NAHC
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