Week Overview  Welcome to Week 4 of BUS681 – Compensation & Benefits.  This week, students consider employee benefits plans and programs that comprise employees’ total compensation packages.  Many employees do not realize the cost of employee benefits programs to their employers or the value of these programs to health and well being of employees and their families.  Managers of organizations must consider the costs of complementing employees’ total compensation packages.  Benefits are an important component of employers’ compensation strategies and must consider cost-effective programs that enrich the lives of employees and their families and achieve desired organizational outcomes (Martocchio, 2011).  Medical and dental insurance, life insurance, Rx and vision plans, short and long-term disability insurance, employer-sponsored retirement plans, paid time off entitlements, and workers compensation insurance are core benefits that many employers offer their employees, sometimes at employees’ partial or full expense.  The level of employees’ contributions towards certain benefits plans is another factor managers must take into consideration when developing and setting compensation strategies.  Employers might also offer tuition assistance and education programs, employee assistance and wellness programs, alternative work arrangements, transportation assistance, financial planning and legal services to their employees.  Such concierge benefits as laundry and dry-cleaning services, on or off-site childcare, cafeteria and food service, and work/life balance programs might also be offered as part of a vast array of ancillary benefits that complement core benefits programs.  The recent enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has a big influence on the design of employee health plans, limits on employee contributions, and the increased use of employee wellness programs in the workplace (Martocchio, 2011).   The U.S. Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service have strict laws, rules, and guidelines that determine how employer-sponsored retirement plans must operate.  Some plans are contributory (i.e., employees contribute towards retirement savings), whereas others are a defined benefit (i.e., the employer pays into employees’ retirement funds entirely).   In Chapter 10 (Martocchio, 2011), students will examine employer-sponsored benefits plans within the contexts of plan design, employee participation, and the regulatory environment.   Both the federal and individual state and local governments also require employers to provide certain benefits to employees.  Statutory benefits include Social Security insurance, worker’s compensation insurance, unemployment compensation insurance, and in cases, temporary disability insurance.  Five states and Puerto Rico require employers to provide employees with short-term disability insurance benefits and operate their own compensation systems that employers within those jurisdictions may use to provide .

1. Week Overview
Welcome to Week 4 of BUS681 – Compensation & Benefits.
This week, students consider employee benefits plans and
programs that comprise employees’ total compensation
packages. Many employees do not realize the cost of employee
benefits programs to their employers or the value of these
programs to health and well being of employees and their
families. Managers of organizations must consider the costs of
complementing employees’ total compensation packages.
Benefits are an important component of employers’
compensation strategies and must consider cost-effective
programs that enrich the lives of employees and their families
and achieve desired organizational outcomes (Martocchio,
2011).
Medical and dental insurance, life insurance, Rx and vision
plans, short and long-term disability insurance, employer-
sponsored retirement plans, paid time off entitlements, and
workers compensation insurance are core benefits that many
employers offer their employees, sometimes at employees’
partial or full expense. The level of employees’ contributions
towards certain benefits plans is another factor managers must
take into consideration when developing and setting
compensation strategies. Employers might also offer tuition
assistance and education programs, employee assistance and
wellness programs, alternative work arrangements,
transportation assistance, financial planning and legal services
to their employees. Such concierge benefits as laundry and dry-
cleaning services, on or off-site childcare, cafeteria and food
service, and work/life balance programs might also be offered
as part of a vast array of ancillary benefits that complement
core benefits programs. The recent enactment of the Affordable
Care Act (ACA) has a big influence on the design of employee

2. health plans, limits on employee contributions, and the
increased use of employee wellness programs in the workplace
(Martocchio, 2011).
The U.S. Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service
have strict laws, rules, and guidelines that determine how
employer-sponsored retirement plans must operate. Some plans
are contributory (i.e., employees contribute towards retirement
savings), whereas others are a defined benefit (i.e., the
employer pays into employees’ retirement funds entirely). In
Chapter 10 (Martocchio, 2011), students will examine
employer-sponsored benefits plans within the contexts of plan
design, employee participation, and the regulatory
environment.
Both the federal and individual state and local governments
also require employers to provide certain benefits to
employees. Statutory benefits include Social Security
insurance, worker’s compensation insurance, unemployment
compensation insurance, and in cases, temporary disability
insurance. Five states and Puerto Rico require employers to
provide employees with short-term disability insurance benefits
and operate their own compensation systems that employers
within those jurisdictions may use to provide employees with
benefits. In other jurisdiction, short-term disability may be
offered as a discretionary benefit. Managers must consider the
costs and integration of statutory benefits when designing the
complete employee benefits package.
By reading Chapters 9-11 of the text (Martocchio, 2011),
students will gain a broad perspective of discretionary and
statutory benefits, government regulations of employer-
sponsored benefits plans, and the design and planning of
employee benefits plans. By now, students should be
accustomed to approaching the required reading with a
triangular perspective. Consider the benefits package offered
by your current or a former organization. How well does the
benefits package complement employees’ total compensation?
Does the benefits package enable the organization to operate

3. effectively, competitively, and at optimal performance? Do
employees appreciate and use the benefits available to them to
their advantage? Does the organization do a good job helping
employees realize the overall value of their benefits to total
compensation? With probable limited knowledge of benefits
costs, do you think the benefits are cost-effective? Based on
your knowledge, which benefits are most popular and which
have limited appeal to employees? How would you change the
current benefits package offered by your organization? Why?
What challenges do your foresee if you change the current
benefits package? Would you be able to enhance the benefits
package at a cost savings to the organization and still motivate
employees to be productive?
This week’s assignments are designed to help you understand
the role of employer-sponsored employee benefits as part of
employees’ total compensation (Martocchio, 2011). The first
discussion focuses specifically on the importance and
integration of discretionary benefits in total compensation
packages. Note that there is discrepancy in the portal with two
different discussions indicated for Discussion One. Note that
the discussion I require for this course is found in the left menu
options of the portal. The discussion you are to engage in is the
following :
Discuss the role of benefits in compensation. Review the
primary reasons an organization provides benefits to its
employees; predict future trends in relation to employee
benefits, including national healthcare; identify factors that
should be considered when creating a benefits plan. Respond to
at least two of your fellow students’ postings.
The second discussion focuses on employer-sponsored
retirement plans, an important feature of benefits packages that
attract and retain talented employees. The written assignment
requires you to research and assess the role of Social Security, a
government retirement program that has been a concern and
newsworthy topic for the last few decades.

4. Recommended Resources
Please refer to your student course guide for a list of
recommended resources for this course.
References
Martocchio, J. J. (2011) Strategic compensation: A human
resource management approach (6th Edition). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 9780136106401