In today's workplace, employees must manage the demands of their work roles and their family roles. Because of this realization, many employers have added "family-friendly" benefits such as family leave, childcare, elder care, and college savings plans to their employee benefits programs. Although these benefits most directly affect employees with family responsibilities, family-friendly benefits often have spillover effects in the form of loyalty because employees see the benefits as evidence that the organization cares about its people.
Although the government requires certain benefits, employers have wide latitude in creating the total benefits package they offer employees. Decisions about which benefits to include should take into account the organization's goals, its budget, and the expectations of the organization's current employees and those it wishes to recruit in the future. The following case describes a company that is trying to create an effective benefits package for its workforce.
Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.
Employee benefits are an important part of operations at Stop & Shop, a fictional private company that runs a bookstore located near a regional campus of a university in a large Midwestern city. Company executives felt too much money was being spent on benefits programs as a percentage of compensation and were unsure whether the employees who received the benefits understood or were satisfied with their benefits.
Stop & Shop's workforce demographics are mostly females between the ages of 20 and 30. Many are full-time workers who are part-time students at the university that is located across the street. Some workers are single parents.
Sharise, the HR manager, was asked to address the executives' concerns. Her first step was to compare the organization to similar organizations and prepare a detailed report for executives. Then, Sharise was tasked with identifying family-friendly benefits and developing a plan to implement them in the organization. Finally, Sharise was asked to develop a communications strategy to improve the knowledge of employees about their benefits.
Questions:
1. Where might the HR manager at Stop & Shop find data on benefits costs?
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act
The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
2. A benefits objective that the HR manager at Stop & Shop has been asked to implement is:
to establish an employee benefits program based primarily on employees' needs for leisure time.
to maintain a level of benefits for nonunion employees at the same level as union members.
to coordinate benefits with government programs such as Social Security.
to determine annually the costs of new programs as a percentage of salaries and wages.
to maintain ongoing communications with all employees concerning benefit programs.
3. Stop & Shop should consider the value their employees place on various benefits. Based on demographic analysis, its current workforce might have the greatest concerns about:
medical coverage.
life insurance.
family leave.
pensions.
pay.