Benefit Programs and Compensation Administration

Employee benefits are one of the most driving measures for obtaining qualified employees. It is important for organizations to provide employees with not only hourly or salary wage but also other benefits that can make them more desirable to well qualified individuals. Organizations must be able to communicate all of the benefits to current and prospective employees clearly enough for them to understand exactly what is offered. Government Regulated Benefits

The government is there to help protect employees for many reasons, things such as worker’s compensation, unemployment, and social security. They also provide state regulated minimum hourly pay, amount of time allowed to work within a given time period or day, and even rights for employees for unjust firing. Employers are also obligated to oversee an individual that is under the age of 18 and what laws pertain directly to those individuals. Also those that work more than 60 hours a week and that if they consistently continue said hours they should be awarded for time spent away from home. While right now there are many laws that are in transit for health benefits being offered to all, it is still in process and not all employees are offered health benefits.

The current Obama Care plan is proposing that all individuals, including any that have pre-existing conditions be offered insurance coverage through their employer at a discounted rate or going directly to insurance companies without being denied for any pre-existing conditions. Another added benefit for those with college-aged children is that they can keep them on their plan until the age of 26, if they are not employed or are not offered insurance through a current employer. These benefits are only contingent upon the upcoming election. Established Organizational Benefits

The organization I currently work for is a dental office. We have four doctors, four hygienists, three front desk personnel, and five dental assistants. We are offered all of the benefits provided to our practice, but the doctors are provided these benefits at a “lesser cost”. Medical benefits are provided to everyone in the practice, the office pays $175 of the premium to hourly employees, but the doctors are provided these benefits at no cost.

Along with the health insurance offered at our practice we are provided with eye insurance that provides one examination per year, but no coverage for glasses or contacts. We are also provided with dental benefits that enable us to get regular cleanings, exams, x-rays, and even restorative work at no charge. We are however, required to pay any lab bills incurred due to any treatment. Family members are also provided these same benefits, for the most part. This is one of the most questionable benefits provided to employees. While it is nice for family members to receive these benefits, it is not always clear as to which family members are granted these benefits.

The organization also provides life insurance and disability to those that want it at a group rate discount. The practice does offer employee match pay for 401K. They allow for us to maximize the amount of match pay into our 401K that is offered to all employees. If an employee puts in 3% of their pay the office matches 3%, it goes up a half a percent up to five. Meaning, like I do is I put in 5% of my pay and they match me 4%. The practice also offers attire for the doctors, hygienists, and dental assistants. Front desk is able to take advantage of scrub allowance if they choose to wear scrubs, but the three of us typically wear professional attire at our own cost. Fringe Benefits and Perks

Any extra benefits other than I have said above, are awarded to the doctors. They are offered many benefits that make working at our practice very beneficial. They are provided with free medical benefits, profit matching at higher rates, enabled to provide friends and family with completely free dental work, car insurance, and even car allowances.

While I did say that only the doctors are awarded fringe benefits, this is not necessarily true. Hygienists, dental assistants, and even the front desk staff that hold certificates are awarded the added benefit of free renewals for licenses and so forth. They are also awarded free seminars that are necessary for updating licenses and certificates. These seminars not only provide the necessary credits for yearly or by-yearly updates, but also new means of how tasks should be carried out. As healthcare professionals, we are responsible for obtaining current methods of practice for carrying out tasks. Items such as infection control and patient confidentiality are an ongoing task. With patients/people’s concerns with what infectious diseases can conjure it is only natural that people would be concerned about. Patient confidentiality is another on going concern. Communication Process of Compensation Benefits

The current communication of benefits provided to our practices employees is a bit vague, but still understood by all. They do not hold yearly meetings or anything of the sort, but old postings are around the office justifying the initial benefits provided. These are still upheld , with the added benefit that they are “old”, all employees realize it up to the treating doctor to determine whether employee family members are to receive treatment at no cost or a discounted cost. Assigned Industry Communication Process of Compensation Benefits

The assigned industry for my group was Macys, inc. They are obligated to many different laws and regulations for their very broad organization within their industry for benefits and compensation. They have secured a very well thought out plan for relaying the message of what their organization has to offer. It is first relayed through their company website, then again through the training process of hiring. After being brought on as an hourly employee, they provided these benefits again through documentation that must be signed before beginning work. Conclusion

It is extremely important for employers to present the compensation and benefits provided to employees in the early stages of hiring. If individuals are unaware of what they are being offered they may be deterred in being hired within the company, due to the fact they may feel that working for the company would not benefit them, but only the organization. Thus the organization may not be able to get those individuals that could be a great asset on-board, and miss an opportunity that could benefit the organization in the future.

References

Common sense about group incentives. (1998). Harvard Management Update, 3(11), 1. Gordon, A. A., & Kaswin, J. L. (2010). EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE INCENTIVE PLANS: FEATURES AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCESSES. Cornell HR Review, 1-6. Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M., & Gerhart, B. (2011). Compensation. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Park, S., & Sturman, M. C. (2012). How and What You Pay Matters: The Relative Effectiveness of Merit Pay, Bonuses and Long-Term Incentives on Future Job Performance. Compensation & Benefits