Managing Employee Benefits

Most companies provide benefits to workers as part of a total rewards package that ideally enhances their satisfaction with work. A benefit is a tangible indirect reward provided to an employee or group of employees for organizational membership.

Benefits can influence employees’ decisions about which employer to work for, whether to stay with or leave an organization, and when to retire. What benefits are offered, the competitive level of benefits, and how those benefits are viewed by individuals all affect employee attraction and retention efforts.

A benefit is a tangible indirect reward provided to an employee or group of employees for organizational membership. Organizations design benefit plans with a goal of providing value for employees while remaining cost-effective for the company. Many key decisions must be made as part of benefits design.

The Social Security Act of 1935 and its later amendments established a system to provide old-age, survivor’s, disability, and retirement benefits. Medicare is a government-operated health insurance program for older Americans (age 65 and above) and for some citizens with disabilities. Workers’ compensation are security benefits provided to workers who are injured on the job.

Unemployment compensation is money that substitutes for wages or salary, paid to recently unemployed workers under a program administered by a government or labor union. Unemployment compensation is meant to provide a source of income for jobless workers until they can find employment.

Offering retirement plans are a staple of the total rewards mix in any organization, critical to attracting, retaining and motivating talent. Employees often consider health plans to be one of the most important benefits that companies offer. Some companies have started to offer a variety of innovative health care programs that provide better services to employees.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a United States labor law requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. Since the enactment of the FMLA, a significant percentage of employees have taken family and medical leave.

Many employers have found PTO plans to be more effective than other means of reducing absenteeism, scheduling time off, increasing employee understanding of leave policies, and assisting with recruiting and retention.