What are Discretionary Benefits?

Discretionary benefits are benefits offered to employees by employers and are not mandated by law. Employers, therefore, offer different discretionary benefits to their employees. They are mainly a reward for work and include insurance benefits, retirement plans, leaves, and child care. Most of these benefits are partly paid for by the employee allowing them to receive the benefits at a considerably lower rate . 

Quiz 

Score: 14/15 

Discussion 

Statement 2 

I choose false for this statement because I strongly believe that it is the case. When employees are looking for a job, their most critical needs. I believe in Maslow’s theory on hierarchy of needs hence my strong belief that statement 2 is false. According to the theory, the most critical needs are basic, safety, belongingness, and esteem needs (McGuire, 2012). When looking for a job, the most critical aspect is how to pay bills, hence basic needs are the most critical. Other needs will be met as I work. I take discretionary benefits to meet safety needs which come after the basic needs. 

Statement 5 

Discretionary benefits meet different needs, therefore, vary from one employee to another. Most employees in their young age will not pursue retirement benefits as much as the older employees. The same case applies to employees with children and those without – child care benefits will go to waste for those without. For this reason, I believe that employees should have a choice in the benefits they get to ensure maximum use. 

Statement 8 

I chose this statement because it extends to my explanation for statement 5 and 2. I believe the need for discretionary benefits is limited to the status and life stage of every employee. When looking for a job, most of them want the experience while others need it as a safety net for their children or family. The ones who need a job as a safety net will place more value to these benefits. For this reason, employees need to choose their benefits. Most of these benefits require an employee to pay for them but at a lower cost. Therefore, there is a need for an organization to keep in mind the difference in age, status, and needs of every employee when providing discretionary benefits (Biswas, 2013) . 

References

Biswas, B. (2013). Compensation and Benefit Design: Applying Finance and Accounting Principles to Global Human Resource Management Systems. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press. 

McGuire, K. (2012). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. An Introduction. GRIN Verlag.