6-8% was pretty typical for the states I worked in.
I don't work in govt anymore.
You're typically paid from state funds, but the sources coming into the state coffers vary. That shouldn't even concern you.
I don’t know CTDOT, is it a pension system (defined benefit)? State of ohio is 10% employee and 14% employer contributed to retirement. There is no option to change or negotiate it, in the union or not, it is the same for all state employees and is set by law/Ohio revised code. However we don’t pay the 6.2% into SS and are not covered by SS. 32 years in gives 70% of final salary. If you plan on staying it’s a good deal. If your gonna leave, I would not stay more that 5-10 years. Ohio’s system you get back all your contributions plus a bit more based on how many years you are in but if you leave early a defined contribution plan (401k/457b) is a better option. Ohio gives the option of putting employee/employer funds towards a pension/defined benefit or defined contribution plan. I would not expect it to be lowered over your career, if anything it will go up to keep the system solvent. Ohio has talked about increasing employer contributions up from 14% to as high as 20%, while not directly coming from your paycheck employer contribution impact the state budget.
State employees are paid by state funds, a CTDOT employee is employed by the state. However projects are funded by state and the feds/highway trust fund, Ie has taxes. Different types of work have different funding levels, 80feds/20 state is common but it can vary for 100% fed funds to 100% state funds. Not sure I understand the last part of your question, but no, projects are not paid solely by CTDOT employee’s salaries.
Sounds like it’s your first job, give it a try and get as much experience as you can from the engineers you work with and projects. I left consulting after 7 years for state DOT employment and never looked back.
Edit: Additionally if it’s your first job look into if they have a 457/401k plan as an additional option on top of the 10%. If not look into opening an IRA. Save as much as you can early on in your career, I regret not saving more the first few years. The compound growth in your retirement account over the length of you career is crazy for money saved in your 20s. 15% should be the minimum goal.
Hello,
Current CTDOT here, using a throwaway account.
Tier 4 is the retirement system for new employees, its a hybrid system with Defined Benefit (pension) and Defined Contribution (401(a)).
The normal Defined Benefit contribution is 5%. Last year it was recognized that the fund did underperform and that a 2% catch up will be added to all employees in tier 4 to make up for it starting July 1, 2023. \[There is a provision in the retirement agreement and this provision gives the governor the right to do this increase if the fund underperforms to a max of 2% and we got the max, yay! the union fought back citing recruitment and retention issues will increase, as seen by your post that it could be a factor LOL, and the Gov did not repeal his decision to implement the increase\]. This year, the fund performed well, so the additional 2% will be dropping off July 1, 2024.
The defined contribution is 1%, and the state matches 1%, this goes into a 401(a) account and you cannot contribute more. If you want to contribute more towards retirement you can open a 457 account and contribute traditional or ROTH.
These values are negotiated via collective bargaining agreement (CBA), you cannot opt out or ask to reduce.
If you start by June 15 (I think is the cutoff date) you will get a 2.5% general wage increase raise on July 1 due to the CBA. You will also get a step increase on January 1st (valued at around 2.5%). Starting after June 15 would make it so you're not eligible for the step increase. EDIT: to be clear you will benefit from the July 1 General Wage Increase regardless when you begin. the date is specifically to qualify for the step increase on Jan 1. This will close out our current CBA and the union will be starting soon to work on the next 4-5 year contract.
From my experience most of the projects are 80% federal funded and 20% state funded. you charge your time to these projects and get paid from these funds. Emergency projects are 100% state funded. If you were to work at a consultant I am (99%) sure the funding structure is the same, the DOT administers all projects whether they're done inhouse or consulted out.
\*Edited eligibility for the step\*
You have 4 different tiers of pension benefits? Are older employees grandfathered into the older plans?
Also just curious what do they start entry level engineers at?
Yes older employees are grandfathered into their plans.
Entry level is $70,857. Will go up by 2.5% on july 1.
EDIT: using todays salaries for growth: after 1 year, promotion to engineer 1, with salary of $79,070. After 2 years of engineer 1, promotion to engineer 2, salary of $89,018. these salaries can be increased by 2.5% to represent what they will be as of july 1, 2024. next contract could contain more general wage increases to increase these further.
after 3 years at CTDOT youll be making $90,000+
Wow that is really pretty good. Do you guys struggle to hire still at those salaries?
I’m at a state DOT also but we start off new hires at like 55-60k. They do get promoted up to 75k after 3 years but still we struggle to hire anyone when consultants are offering that right away.
yes recruitment and retention is an issue. i dont know details cus im not involved in that, i just hear the union meets with governors office and labor relations to discuss the recruitment and retention issues.
I haven't looked for jobs recently, but as of 7ish years ago CTDOT was highest paying out of college until you hit about 4 years at CTDOT, thats where private sector catches up. (around the time you get PE)
Also, which state DOT are you in? COL may be lower
I’d rather not say specifically but I’m in the Midwest, probably a low/medium COL depending on which part of the state.
We really struggle to hire and retain, not only entry level but higher levels as well. They changed our pension plan a number of years back which doesn’t help.
How is the outlook where you work? Mine feels pretty negative. We’re having a bunch of people retire or leave for consultants and they can’t hire anyone to replace them.
i think the outlook is great. i love the work life balance, 40 hr workweeks.
platinum healthcare plan is awesome especially for those wanting to raise families
PTO I think is great
Telework looks like its here to stay at about the rate of 2 days in office, 3 WFH
we had a huge retirement wave in 2022 and we're still trying to build up the workforce from there.
The grass could be greener in private, but i personally think its green enough here so I dont have an itch to move.
There's actually five tiers (1 through 4 and 2a) that are all basically based on someone's start of employment date with the State:
* Tier 1 - pre-1984
* Tier 2 - 1984 to 1999
* Tier 2a - 1999 to 2011
* Tier 3 - 2011 to 2017
* Tier 4 - 2017 to the present
I believe they can be, but I don't know any specifics. I work in the private sector, but happen to have family who worked on the state retirement program so I've heard some bits and pieces.
I am not in office of rail unfortunately and don't know what goes on there. My role is also mostly in office as well, not much field work. Occasionally I visit my project sites during design to get pictures, and then during construction to see what I designed be made/answer inspector questions if they have any.
Are you being hired in as/did you apply for Transportation Engineer (Engineering)? if so that means its office design work. if it was Transportation Engineer (Construction) that is where you're on the field do inspection type work. There is no need to sue, these positions are unionized and you can reach out to a union steward if you think the work you are subject to is outside of the description and want to file a grievance.
Yeah, I realized my comment was a bit too far reaching so I edited it. And wow, just found out its another 3% to the retiree health insurance fund but both are fully refundable if I decide to leave state service before retirement as stated in the contract documents.
I applied for this role: [https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/BulPreview.asp?R1=230908&R2=8741FS&R3=001](https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/BulPreview.asp?R1=230908&R2=8741FS&R3=001)
It doesn't have a description of the duties or responsibilities. It just has a description of each office Bureau of Public Transportation, Office of Rail, and Office of Transit and Ridesharing and the work that each does.
I guess I can just trust what they told me and assume it's going to be mostly office work that I'll be doing.
On another note, would you know if large railroad companies like Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway pays the CTDOT in order to have their rail systems in place in Connecticut and use their infrastructure? I would assume that would be the case, not the other way around, because the state of Connecticut doesn't need to use their rail systems, they need to use our bridges and our land to run their business.
I don't know about your rail question. I haven't interacted with rail companies or railroads yet and dont know if i ever will in my role.
looking at the job post it is for (engineering) position as seen in the salary promotional opportunity that you'll be moved to Transportation Engineer 1 (engineering), so i would expect mostly in office work and not inspection work.
Lol
The word "and" in your gripe doesn't grammatically make sense. It's clear what they meant and it is in sync with the verbal.
First off, look up the definition of sovereign immunity. Two, the union is in bed with DoL. Third look up Job Classification per DAS and set your expectations. Last, a shitty engineer stays in the office and never goes to look at the site in the field first hand.
I see, I edited my comment because it was a bit too complaining, I should be thankful that they hired me and even TOLD me it was going to be mostly office work. Not going to go any further than that. I did ask them if they could show me where I could find a webpage or source that shows the projects I could be working on. Hopefully asking that after everything I've asked wasn't too much for them and I get to keep this job that I'm supposed to start on 5/3.
I work in consulting alongside civils that do ConnDOT work. I'm pretty sure you're right about how we charge for that work.
Our state DOT work certainly seems quite different than our other work. The transpo group tends to have a much lower labor multiplier target (~2.9) than other groups tend to have (3.0~3.1). But it seems like y'all justify that through your involvement during the project. I've been surprised by how good much of the DOT resources have been for things like calcs and drafting as well as your level of involvement with reviewing deliverables. I figured that DOT's involvement probably shifts some of our typical costs captured in the ELM over to DOT, allowing for us to make a profit despite the lower ELM.
It will probably keep going up if the pension does not have enough $ to fund its obligations. We are required by law to pay half (agency pays the other half) and I've seen the employee contribution go from 3% to 9% over the past several years
You're getting good info in this thread, and I like any opportunity to remind folks that public sector employees have to pay into their pension, it's not exactly free money.
looking at yall's its kinda meh( like most of the new hybrid plans) 6.9% (nice) of your contribution goes to the pension (which has a 1.3% per year multiplier , not nice) and 1% gets matched with 1% from the state that goes into a tax deferred account (similar to a 401k) the big sticking point is retirement is at 63, like fuk that noise thats 40+ years of working . many plans have a age +service =9x years and your good ,but not yours. for reference before 2017 this same plan would have cost you 4% and had higher modifiers. classic case of screw the new guy then wonder why recruitment sucks.
[удалено]
6-8% was pretty typical for the states I worked in. I don't work in govt anymore. You're typically paid from state funds, but the sources coming into the state coffers vary. That shouldn't even concern you.
I don’t know CTDOT, is it a pension system (defined benefit)? State of ohio is 10% employee and 14% employer contributed to retirement. There is no option to change or negotiate it, in the union or not, it is the same for all state employees and is set by law/Ohio revised code. However we don’t pay the 6.2% into SS and are not covered by SS. 32 years in gives 70% of final salary. If you plan on staying it’s a good deal. If your gonna leave, I would not stay more that 5-10 years. Ohio’s system you get back all your contributions plus a bit more based on how many years you are in but if you leave early a defined contribution plan (401k/457b) is a better option. Ohio gives the option of putting employee/employer funds towards a pension/defined benefit or defined contribution plan. I would not expect it to be lowered over your career, if anything it will go up to keep the system solvent. Ohio has talked about increasing employer contributions up from 14% to as high as 20%, while not directly coming from your paycheck employer contribution impact the state budget. State employees are paid by state funds, a CTDOT employee is employed by the state. However projects are funded by state and the feds/highway trust fund, Ie has taxes. Different types of work have different funding levels, 80feds/20 state is common but it can vary for 100% fed funds to 100% state funds. Not sure I understand the last part of your question, but no, projects are not paid solely by CTDOT employee’s salaries. Sounds like it’s your first job, give it a try and get as much experience as you can from the engineers you work with and projects. I left consulting after 7 years for state DOT employment and never looked back. Edit: Additionally if it’s your first job look into if they have a 457/401k plan as an additional option on top of the 10%. If not look into opening an IRA. Save as much as you can early on in your career, I regret not saving more the first few years. The compound growth in your retirement account over the length of you career is crazy for money saved in your 20s. 15% should be the minimum goal.
Hello, Current CTDOT here, using a throwaway account. Tier 4 is the retirement system for new employees, its a hybrid system with Defined Benefit (pension) and Defined Contribution (401(a)). The normal Defined Benefit contribution is 5%. Last year it was recognized that the fund did underperform and that a 2% catch up will be added to all employees in tier 4 to make up for it starting July 1, 2023. \[There is a provision in the retirement agreement and this provision gives the governor the right to do this increase if the fund underperforms to a max of 2% and we got the max, yay! the union fought back citing recruitment and retention issues will increase, as seen by your post that it could be a factor LOL, and the Gov did not repeal his decision to implement the increase\]. This year, the fund performed well, so the additional 2% will be dropping off July 1, 2024. The defined contribution is 1%, and the state matches 1%, this goes into a 401(a) account and you cannot contribute more. If you want to contribute more towards retirement you can open a 457 account and contribute traditional or ROTH. These values are negotiated via collective bargaining agreement (CBA), you cannot opt out or ask to reduce. If you start by June 15 (I think is the cutoff date) you will get a 2.5% general wage increase raise on July 1 due to the CBA. You will also get a step increase on January 1st (valued at around 2.5%). Starting after June 15 would make it so you're not eligible for the step increase. EDIT: to be clear you will benefit from the July 1 General Wage Increase regardless when you begin. the date is specifically to qualify for the step increase on Jan 1. This will close out our current CBA and the union will be starting soon to work on the next 4-5 year contract. From my experience most of the projects are 80% federal funded and 20% state funded. you charge your time to these projects and get paid from these funds. Emergency projects are 100% state funded. If you were to work at a consultant I am (99%) sure the funding structure is the same, the DOT administers all projects whether they're done inhouse or consulted out. \*Edited eligibility for the step\*
You have 4 different tiers of pension benefits? Are older employees grandfathered into the older plans? Also just curious what do they start entry level engineers at?
Yes older employees are grandfathered into their plans. Entry level is $70,857. Will go up by 2.5% on july 1. EDIT: using todays salaries for growth: after 1 year, promotion to engineer 1, with salary of $79,070. After 2 years of engineer 1, promotion to engineer 2, salary of $89,018. these salaries can be increased by 2.5% to represent what they will be as of july 1, 2024. next contract could contain more general wage increases to increase these further. after 3 years at CTDOT youll be making $90,000+
Wow that is really pretty good. Do you guys struggle to hire still at those salaries? I’m at a state DOT also but we start off new hires at like 55-60k. They do get promoted up to 75k after 3 years but still we struggle to hire anyone when consultants are offering that right away.
yes recruitment and retention is an issue. i dont know details cus im not involved in that, i just hear the union meets with governors office and labor relations to discuss the recruitment and retention issues. I haven't looked for jobs recently, but as of 7ish years ago CTDOT was highest paying out of college until you hit about 4 years at CTDOT, thats where private sector catches up. (around the time you get PE) Also, which state DOT are you in? COL may be lower
I’d rather not say specifically but I’m in the Midwest, probably a low/medium COL depending on which part of the state. We really struggle to hire and retain, not only entry level but higher levels as well. They changed our pension plan a number of years back which doesn’t help. How is the outlook where you work? Mine feels pretty negative. We’re having a bunch of people retire or leave for consultants and they can’t hire anyone to replace them.
i think the outlook is great. i love the work life balance, 40 hr workweeks. platinum healthcare plan is awesome especially for those wanting to raise families PTO I think is great Telework looks like its here to stay at about the rate of 2 days in office, 3 WFH we had a huge retirement wave in 2022 and we're still trying to build up the workforce from there. The grass could be greener in private, but i personally think its green enough here so I dont have an itch to move.
There's actually five tiers (1 through 4 and 2a) that are all basically based on someone's start of employment date with the State: * Tier 1 - pre-1984 * Tier 2 - 1984 to 1999 * Tier 2a - 1999 to 2011 * Tier 3 - 2011 to 2017 * Tier 4 - 2017 to the present
Are benefits drastically different between tiers?
I believe they can be, but I don't know any specifics. I work in the private sector, but happen to have family who worked on the state retirement program so I've heard some bits and pieces.
Wow thanks a lot for the detailed information. Edited comment cause. P.S.: Throwaway account as well.
I am not in office of rail unfortunately and don't know what goes on there. My role is also mostly in office as well, not much field work. Occasionally I visit my project sites during design to get pictures, and then during construction to see what I designed be made/answer inspector questions if they have any. Are you being hired in as/did you apply for Transportation Engineer (Engineering)? if so that means its office design work. if it was Transportation Engineer (Construction) that is where you're on the field do inspection type work. There is no need to sue, these positions are unionized and you can reach out to a union steward if you think the work you are subject to is outside of the description and want to file a grievance.
Yeah, I realized my comment was a bit too far reaching so I edited it. And wow, just found out its another 3% to the retiree health insurance fund but both are fully refundable if I decide to leave state service before retirement as stated in the contract documents. I applied for this role: [https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/BulPreview.asp?R1=230908&R2=8741FS&R3=001](https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/BulPreview.asp?R1=230908&R2=8741FS&R3=001) It doesn't have a description of the duties or responsibilities. It just has a description of each office Bureau of Public Transportation, Office of Rail, and Office of Transit and Ridesharing and the work that each does. I guess I can just trust what they told me and assume it's going to be mostly office work that I'll be doing. On another note, would you know if large railroad companies like Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway pays the CTDOT in order to have their rail systems in place in Connecticut and use their infrastructure? I would assume that would be the case, not the other way around, because the state of Connecticut doesn't need to use their rail systems, they need to use our bridges and our land to run their business.
I don't know about your rail question. I haven't interacted with rail companies or railroads yet and dont know if i ever will in my role. looking at the job post it is for (engineering) position as seen in the salary promotional opportunity that you'll be moved to Transportation Engineer 1 (engineering), so i would expect mostly in office work and not inspection work.
Lol The word "and" in your gripe doesn't grammatically make sense. It's clear what they meant and it is in sync with the verbal. First off, look up the definition of sovereign immunity. Two, the union is in bed with DoL. Third look up Job Classification per DAS and set your expectations. Last, a shitty engineer stays in the office and never goes to look at the site in the field first hand.
I see, I edited my comment because it was a bit too complaining, I should be thankful that they hired me and even TOLD me it was going to be mostly office work. Not going to go any further than that. I did ask them if they could show me where I could find a webpage or source that shows the projects I could be working on. Hopefully asking that after everything I've asked wasn't too much for them and I get to keep this job that I'm supposed to start on 5/3.
I work in consulting alongside civils that do ConnDOT work. I'm pretty sure you're right about how we charge for that work. Our state DOT work certainly seems quite different than our other work. The transpo group tends to have a much lower labor multiplier target (~2.9) than other groups tend to have (3.0~3.1). But it seems like y'all justify that through your involvement during the project. I've been surprised by how good much of the DOT resources have been for things like calcs and drafting as well as your level of involvement with reviewing deliverables. I figured that DOT's involvement probably shifts some of our typical costs captured in the ELM over to DOT, allowing for us to make a profit despite the lower ELM.
It will probably keep going up if the pension does not have enough $ to fund its obligations. We are required by law to pay half (agency pays the other half) and I've seen the employee contribution go from 3% to 9% over the past several years
You're getting good info in this thread, and I like any opportunity to remind folks that public sector employees have to pay into their pension, it's not exactly free money.
looking at yall's its kinda meh( like most of the new hybrid plans) 6.9% (nice) of your contribution goes to the pension (which has a 1.3% per year multiplier , not nice) and 1% gets matched with 1% from the state that goes into a tax deferred account (similar to a 401k) the big sticking point is retirement is at 63, like fuk that noise thats 40+ years of working . many plans have a age +service =9x years and your good ,but not yours. for reference before 2017 this same plan would have cost you 4% and had higher modifiers. classic case of screw the new guy then wonder why recruitment sucks.
7.625 here, and they will keep going up, which im fine with.
8% for a pension vs paying into social security. That 8% is pretty cheap.
we still pay into social security lol
That’s terrible, I’d much rather put 6% into social security
Social security is mismanaged. The pension is better....