Many organizations are concerned about the rising cost of employee benefits and question their value to the organization and to the employees.
It is more beneficial for employees to have benefits like health insurance, a retirement account, and paid leave. The most important ones in my opinion. Health insurance especially in the world we live in today is a valuable benefit. Health insurance is something that is really hard to live without but also if you do not qualify for benefits from your employers it is very expensive to purchase it from the marketplace. Retirement benefits are equally as important because your employees are not going to be able to work forever, eventually they are not going to be able to work anymore and employees need to be able to live without a job when they get old and when their employer helps them put money aside or match their contributions up to a certain percentage it helps them grow the money they are going to need later on in their lives because social security is not going to be around forever.
For the most part, I think it would be most beneficial for the employer if they didn\’t help pay for benefits for their employees. If you look at it strictly from the business side, a firm is in business to make money and providing benefits are just costing them. One benefit that I do think is beneficial for the employer to pay for the employees to take time off. It is proven that when employees take time off, say a week at a time, their employee have time to detach from their work and come back ready to work and are more productive.
LO 2:
The Social Security Act: protects workers against loss of earning from old age and unemployment, and disabilities.
COBRA Insurance: requires insurance be made available at the same premium that the employer would pay if the employee were to lose their job.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Employers with 50 or more employees that work 30 or more hours per week will have to pay a penalty to the government if they do not offer health insurance. But those with 200 or more employees automatically enroll their full-time employees in health coverage.
FMLA: Eligible employees must be granted 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period for the birth or adoption of a child, care for an immediate family member with a serious medical condition or serious health condition.
R2
To start this discussion off, I will be talkin about the reason organizations are concerned about the rising cost of employee benefits, and question their value towards the organization plus the employees. To start off, according to an article published, health care costs are projected to increase 6.5% this year, which means the costs to have employees working for a company are and will rise tremendously. It does not break down to just paying someone to work for a company, as there is a lot more than that. With having to consider background checks, insurance costs, healthcare, and more, it can add up faster than one may think. The reason these rates continue to rise, is because of the price of medical helps such as services or the costs of medications, continue to rise. One thing I have seen companies do to cut down on some of these costs is to consider what technology has to offer, as in the long run, money can be saved. I believe that healthcare and dental are some of the greatest values to employees as this cuts down on costs for services an employee may need to consider.
By law, employers are required to provide and offer specific benefits to employees. When researching this topic, I have come across Workers Compensation Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Family and Medical Leave, and Disability Insurance. These are all things that are required legally to be provided to employees within a company. With job related medical injuries or illnesses happening, employers legally have to offer time off due to these things.
Employee Benefits Costs On the Rise: What it Means for Employers. (2017, July 10). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.spencerjamesgroup.com/employee-benefits-costs-on-the-rise/
4 Legally Required Benefits Every Employer Should Know. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.inguard.com/newsroom/4-legally-required-benefits-every-employer-should-know/
R3
LO 1: Many organizations are concerned about the rising cost of employee benefits and question their value to the organization and to the employees.
In your opinion, what benefits are of greatest value to employees? To the organization? Why?
In my opinion, health, life, and disability insurance provide greatest value to employees. Knowing that health care costs are growing at double and triple the rate of inflation, health care coverage can hence create greater value to employees as they can reduce the heavy cost due to healthcare problems happening during work. Of course, other benefits like retirements and savings, paid leaves and vacations can also create great value for employees as all benefits them. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of organization, paid leaves and vacations can create the greatest value to organization because the benefits can help to increase the productivity of employees and eventually bring benefits to the organization.
LO 2: Employers are required by law to provide specific benefits to employees. What laws mandate benefits to employees, and what are the provisions of those laws?
First, social security insurance was designed to protect workers against the loss of earnings resulting from unemployment, old age, disability, or, in the case of dependents, the death of the worker supporting them. This insurance include retirement benefits, disability benefits under social security, survivor’s benefits, and medicare. Next, unemployment insurance protects workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Employees who gets fired are generally eligible for up to 26 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits during their unemployment. Third, worker’s compensation insurance covers workers injured on the job no matter if the employee was at fault. Fourth, COBRA insurance mandates that employers make health care coverage available to employees and their spouses or dependents. Fifth, benefits provided by PPACA including employers must offer coverage for employee’s children until they turn 26 and no copays or deductibles can be charged to employees and their dependents for certain “essential” health care services. Last but not least, benefits provided under the FMLA include a grant to eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for several reasons.
ReferenceSnell, S.A., Morris, S.S., and Bohlander, G.W. (2016). Managing human resources. 17th Edition. MA: Cengage.
R4
In your opinion, what benefits are of greatest value to employees? To the organization? Why? –
I think it really depends on where you are in life and what benefit you need the most. For example someone with kids may desire better health, dental, and vision insurance versus someone that is healthy and single. Not to mention someone with a family is paying much higher premiums. 401k and profit sharing plans are not as popular with employees as they once were. Many people in the workforce want money on their paychecks as they live for Today, not tomorrow. From my experiences what employees want the most is a flexible schedule, work at home options, and more vacation time. Employees more so than ever value benefits that improve their work-life balance. All benefits bring value to the organization as long as it provides the organization with good healthy employees that want to stay for a long period of time. The benefit that brings the most value is what employee’s want the most and that is flexibility. There is not a hard cost for the company in regards to a flexible schedule if managed correctly. This ultimately will create a great atmosphere to work in along with increasing productivity (Jones, 2020).
Employers are required by law to provide specific benefits to employees. What laws mandate benefits to employees, and what are the provisions of those laws?
In the US, employers are legally required to provide certain benefits to its employees. They are defined as benefits the facilitate provision of retirement income, medical care, job loss/disability, and workers compensation.
Social Security, Medicare, and (FICA) – A certain amount of taxes needs to be withheld
From the employee to fund.
Workers Compensation – This is insurance that employers must provide for their workers.
Disability Insurance – In 5 states and one US Territory it is mandated the employers provide this insurance.
Family and medical leave – Private employers with at least 50 workers and all public sector businesses must offer.
Health Insurance – Requirements vary based on size of business and location. Often smaller businesses are not required to have to offer Health Insurance (Youngson, 2020).
Jones, K. (2020, June 10th). Employee Benefits Study. Retrieved from FRACTL: https://www.frac.tl/employee-benefits-study/#:~:text=Health%2C%20Dental%2C%20and%20Vision%20Insurance,consideration%E2%80%9D%20(54%20percent).
Youngson, N. (2020, January 1st). Government-Mandated Benefits Compliance Guide for 2020. Retrieved from Employementlawhandbook: https://www.employmentlawhandbook.com/resources/go…
R5
With OSHA being enacted in 1970, many benefits to employees happened as far as safety concerns within companies. OSHA now is a very powerful company that can come in and shut any business down, if not following specific safety guidelines. I believe that OSHA is a very effective way of keeping safety protocol in order as if not up to date, serious fines can happen. OSHA\’s main mission is to \” assure the safety and health of Americas workers by setting and enforcing standards\”. As this company act covers all sectors of a business, standards are monitored to make sure all acts are being followed. Without OSHA, companies would not have safety and health standards, and work related injuries may be happening all the time. I think that OSHA should continue to be expanded however business should have freedom and not feel like they are being watched over all the time. Companies want their employees to feel safe, without having a tremendous amount of rules and standards to follow by.
Employees should know what is safe to do and what is not, with this, they can then determine what safety measures may need to be enacted within a company. I have dealt with OSHA and their safety training courses in my career, and know the regulations and the power that the company carries. Overall, OSHA in my opinion is a great service provided to protect the safety and health of employees.
R6
In my opinion, OSHA has decreased the number of injuries and fatalities since its inception. Through personal experiences at the workplace, we have always had training and policies on how to work safely. Whether it is tethering a ladder, using a harness, wearing a hardhat, or other personal protective equipment. OSHA has set regulations that organizations follow very closely. If not they are subjected to very hefty fines. One statistic that I came across in the chapter was “worker deaths in America are down on average, from about 38 workers deaths a day in 1970 to 12 a day in 2012” (Bohlander, 2015). That provides encouragement that OSHA’s rules and regulations provide better guidance on safety in the workplace.
I think that businesses should always be able to add on more safety guidelines for their workers in addition to OSHA’s requirements. OSHA’s requirements should always be expanded to deal with the advancement of technology and job requirements. The development of new safety equipment and industry tech needs to be used and mandated by OSHA if it is deemed to eliminate the potential of workplace accidents. Now obviously things such as this would have to be within reason to the specific industry but also cost-effectiveness, with the possibility of grants and funding from the government.
Bohlander, S.S.S.M.G. W. (2015). Managing Human Resources, 17th Edition, Cengage
Learning US. P.460)
R7
When OSHA was enacted in 1970, it was heralded as the most important new source of protection for the U.S. worker in the second half of the twentieth century. From the information in this chapter, what is your opinion about the effectiveness or the ineffectiveness of the act? Should it be expanded, or should businesses have more freedom to determine safety standards for their workers?
The objective of OSHA was to ensure safe and protected work conditions to factory workers. OSHA also helped create awareness among workers regarding their safety and other rights that were associated with it, and ensured that companies were improving their safety standards. OSHA has probably decreased the number of injuries significantly because before there was no real standard and people were just doing what they needed to do to get their work done. I would say that OSHA is effective, I would have to say this because it is mandatory for companies to pass and be up to date on OSHA guidelines. I would say that it should be expanded and companies can add onto what is already set in place by OSHA. Current safety standards cover any equipment, machines, hazardous material, protective clothing and more. OSHA will always have to expand to stay up to date with new technology, equipment, and materials.
R8
The main objective of OSHA is to ensure safe and protective work conditions to employees. OSHA also created awareness among employees certain health safety regulations. Before joining the Army, every job I have ever worked at had OSHA training to ensure that we stayed in compliance with regulations. As for employers, it made sure that they were following correct protocols. I think that OSHA has a high effectiveness rates. Our text talks about how OSHA enforcements have brought work injuries and deaths on average are down by 38 workers deaths a day in 1970 to 12 a day in 2012. That alone tells me that it is effective. I think that these regulations should be expanded by businesses because OSHA standards are just the basic safety standards. Employers should seek to add to the standards to go more in depth in areas that OSHA might not fully cover.
Bohlander, S.S.S.M.G. W. (2015). Managing Human Resources, 17th Edition, Cengage
Learning US. P.460)
Answer preview to many organizations are concerned about the rising cost of employee benefits and question their value to the organization and to the employees.
APA
817 words