The progress that any company makes is a result of a successful combination of the human resource, the employees. An organization cannot make progress if it has any issues with its employees. As such, several different efforts have been put in place by various companies to help motivate and thereby contain their employees in their business. The company strives to acquire the best labor force, both technical and manual, trains them to the required standards of the organization and retains them through the provision of employee benefits. Employee benefits are the legally required benefits that safeguard the workers’ health, income, and their overall well-being. This essay identifies different employee benefits and explains their role in motivation the workforce of not only in health but any other organizations.
Mandatory benefits
Mandatory company employee benefits are the programs that the state or the federal statute orders and requires the employers of any organization to accord to their workers or employees lawfully. The mandatory benefits are fixed in many companies not only in the United States of America but also all over the world. The employee benefits are primarily aiming at motivating the workforce of the company and thereby contain them for their excellent services in the interest of the enterprise. Below are the universal mandatory benefits;
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Family and medical leave
Disability insurance
Unemployment insurance
Workers Insurance
Family and medical leave
The state family and medical leave act require that, all public companies, and the private companies, with fifty and above employees should provide leave to their employees with significant reasons. The leave should be up to 12 working weeks in a period of 12 months. During this leave, the state requires that the employee’s job is protected. There is, therefore, no threat of losing the job to someone else while on leave. The federal state only excludes the company from paying the employees while on leave. The leave might be because of many important reasons. Some leaves are government requirements of an individual to render their services elsewhere for a specified period. As such, this could be to work in the army, to attend to court issues or to foster care among many other important calls. The state terms such leave as ‘civic duties.' The policy is very motivating to the general workforce as it ensures that employees have some time for their families regardless of how busy they are. It encourages building not only an individual’s career but also a good relationship with their families.
Disability insurance
Disability insurance is a state requirement for the employers of companies to take care of their members of staff while disadvantaged in the course of their work. The employees may be unable to perform their usual duties entirely or as expected of them. Normally, this could be as a result of health problems. The company employer in such a case is supposed to provide partial wages to such employees to support them and as well facilitate their healing process. This requirement has been a useful rule of law in several states of the United States of America such as New Jersey, Hawaii, Rhode Island and New York. It is an important employee benefit as total care of the employee is taken by the company in case anything regarding their health befalls them during their duty.
Unemployment insurance
The unemployment insurance policy serves to protect the employees who might lose their jobs without any particular fault. Evidently, this could be as a result of adjustments in the company or downsizing. The employees in this situation are required by law to apply for the unemployment insurance which will prove a source of income about half of their previous salaries up to a period of 26 weeks. This policy is crucial especially in the contemporary world where dynamicity prevails profoundly in many aspects, especially in technology. As a company may decide to employ a newer operating mechanism, the older one may be dropped, and thereby the former operator loses their job as the more modern system might require different skills. This policy gives the relieved workers more time to look for other alternatives.
Workers compensation
Workers compensation policy serves to reimburse for the loss of pay and also covers their medical expenses while they fall sick in the course of their duties. The company thereby protects the employees. It motivates them to continue working with the company for they won’t have to count the lost time and pay for it while they were away on sickness.
Compensation
The employers are expected to pay their workers the minimum wages as stipulated by law. The payments are calculated hourly. No employee should get paid below the minimum set wage. As such, this policy motivates the employees to work properly and stay with the organization as their dues are paid satisfactorily.
Voluntary employee benefits
On the other hand, there are other types of employee benefits that are given voluntarily by the organization to its employees. Voluntary employee benefits are other job perquisites that are only at the discretion of the company employer. The employer chooses who to accord to and to whom not to. The company can also decide not to give the benefits to the employees. Concurrently, these perquisites are dependent on the overall operation of the company. They depend on the employees’ input towards the performance and development of the c company. For instance, if the company is operating at losses, there will be no voluntary benefits to the workers. Some of these voluntary benefits include the following;
time offs
retirement savings plan
educational assistance
health insurance
Time offs
Giving time off to the employees is an option of the companies. Employees of a given company may be required to work throughout the year or be given time offs in within. The time-offs vary from company to company as it’s a voluntary benefit. It can be from a day to weeks to some businesses. Some companies pay the employees while they are away on their time off. Some companies don’t offer that benefit. Time off is an important benefit that companies give their employees. It gives the employees a break from their routine and allows them to re-evaluate themselves for better performance.
Retirement savings plan
A retirement saving plan is a paramount benefit that all employees should embrace readily as soon as they start working. Only a small portion of your total pay is taken into the retirement savings account. Concurrently, this is a good step as it ensures a bright future of the employee after they retire of even lose their job unexpectedly. Not all companies offer this benefit to their employees. Some companies don’t. Retirement savings plan is also not a readily accepted benefit to most employees especially those who just started working for the first time. Most of such reluctant employees are usually fresh graduates who still have many debts back in college to settle and also need guidance on how to use their money. A certain fixed percentage of the employee total pay is deducted for this plan. If proper awareness is created, this will be highly prioritized among the employee benefits lists.
Education assistance
Some organizations accord various forms of assistance to facilitate their workers who wish to pursue individual courses. The assistance could be scholarships. The Scholarships can be full or partial. They could be within the country as the employee works for the organization or outside in foreign countries. It is a unique benefit as the employee can pursue a particular course that leads to promotions in the same company.
Health insurance
Some organizations give health insurance benefit to their workers. The employers of such enterprises are assured of medical covers as long as they are working with the company. Some covers may or may not be extended to the employees’ family. It’s the organization's decision to make.
Many companies across the world are striving to ensure that their workers have a right working environment for maximum output of their resource. The workforce is the most valued asset of any business, which comprises of the employees. It is the human resource department in any given company across the world that determines the final output of the company. All employers should, therefore, motivate their employees for better performance.
References
Clark, L. D., Frincke, M. C., & United States. (1921). Workmen's compensation legislation of the United States and Canada . Washington: U.S. G.P.O.
Elearn Limited (Great Britain). (2009). Managing health, safety and working environment . Amsterdam: Elsevier/Pergamon Flexible Learning.
Prussin, J. A. (1976). Employee health benefits: HMOs and mandatory dual choice . Germantown, Md: Aspen Systems Corp.
Reyna, S. L. S. (1992). Leadership styles of nurse managers and how they affect the motivation level of nursing staff.
United States. (1987). Federal Employees Leave Act of 1987: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Compensation and Employee Benefits of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, House of Representatives, One hundredth Congress, first session, on H.R. 2487 A bill to amend Title 5, United States Code, to provide for the establishment of a voluntary leave transfer program for federal employees, and for other purposes, August 4, 1987 . Washington: U.S. G.P.O.
