Reference no: EM131197827
Business Compensation Management DISCUSSION 1
"Employee Benefits" Please respond to the following:
· Argue for or against the argument that employee benefits are seen by employees as an entitlement for their membership in companies. Support your position.
· Analyze the components of designing and planning a benefits program to predict what additional issues will need to come into consideration over the next 10 to 20 years. Provide your rationale.
Business Compensation Management DISCUSSION 2
Benefits for Part-Time Workers" Please respond to the following:
· From the case study in Chapter 11, argue for or against the hiring of part-time workers based on the issues surrounding providing part-time workers with benefits.
· Assuming that the firm should offer benefits to part-time workers, recommend which benefits should be offered. Provide your rationale.
Chapter 11 case
Case Benefits for Part-Time Workers
With just under 100 employees, Jackson, Smith and Henderson CPA (JSH) is considered one of the fastest growing certified public accounting (CPA) firms in the area. Alan Jones was recently hired as the director of human resources and has many challenges ahead of him as he works to formalize the human resource practices of the firm.
As the benefit open enrollment period is approaching quickly, his first job is to review the benefit offerings of the firm to ensure that JSH is competitive with other area firms. Beyond the legally required benefits, the firm currently offers a fairly basic benefit package including health care insurance, a 401(k) plan, vacation days, and sick days.
Currently, all employees are full-time, and all employees are eligible for benefits. However, two employees have recently requested part-time schedules. Further, in order to meet future unique staffing needs, the firm is considering hiring part-time workers in several departments, including CPAs. Therefore, Alan must make a recommendation to the company's board of directors on whether or not they should extend the benefits to part-time workers.
A recent compensation survey of businesses in the local geographic area includes information about benefits. The survey reports that about 90 percent of companies in the area offer time off benefits to part-time employees, but only 40 percent offer health care insurance, and 15 percent offer a retirement savings plan. A national survey of CPA firms showed a different picture for part-time workers: 95 percent of firms reported time off offerings, 75 percent offered health care insurance, and 67 percent offered retirement benefits to part-time workers.
The job market for talented CPAs is competitive and Alan knows that they will need to hire both full-time and part-time CPAs in the future. Alan's initial reaction is that they need to offer all benefits to both full-time and part-time workers in order to be competitive with other CPA firms. However, the costs to do so are significant. The current benefits package is approximately 30 percent of the total compensation package for full-time workers. While time off benefits and 401(k) contributions for part-time workers would be pro-rated based on the number of hours each employee works, offering health care insurance is a fixed cost. That is, the firm must pay the same to cover a part-time worker as a full-time worker. As a result, benefit costs could potentially approach nearly 50 percent of the total compensation for part-time employees. Part of this cost could be offset by asking part-time workers to pay a higher percentage of the premium, but the cost would still be significant. Alan must balance recruiting needs against a tight budget, and he is concerned about the right path to take.
Our discussion examines a concern common in today's workplace, discrimination and legalprotection from it. What protects employees from on-the-job discrimination? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Established as part of the broader war on poverty and inequality in the 1960s, legislators founded the EEOC within Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC legally protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Recently added policies include: protecting former military personnel from unfair hiring practices (1973); shielding workers with disabilities from inequitable hiring, firing and job tasks (1990); and defending employees over forty years old from age-related prejudice (1967). The EEOC, finally, investigates employer retaliation against employees who hadfiled claims of discrimination.
Why was the EEOC necessary in the 1960s? Given the many advancements made against discrimination today, do we still need the EEOC? Explain your responses.
MORE INFORMATION: Do you want to read a brief history of the EEOC? see League Information Institute, Cornell University. (2015).Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved on Mary 23, 2016 from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equal_employment_opportunity_commission
· Access the "USGS Hazards" website under the Natural Hazards terms section of the Science Corner. You can also access the website at https://www.usgs.gov/natural_hazards/. Choose one (1) of the following geologic hazards: earthquake, landslide, or flood. Next, determine the key factors that influence the occurrence of your chosen hazard. Then, analyze the human role in elevating the risks of occurrence, as well as mitigation strategies to minimize damage and loss of life.
· Watch the video titled "Meet the Volcanoes" (2 min 57 sec) under the Volcanism terms section of the Science Corner. You can also view the video at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/meet-volcanoes.html. Next, use the Internet or Strayer Library to research articles on the Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii and Mount Pinatubo in Philippines. Based on the type (i. e., cinder cone, shield, or composite) of volcano, and its common eruption characteristics, speculate on the societal and environmental damages that Mauna Loa and Mount Pinatubo would cause if they erupted today. Justify your response with evidence from your research.
· Describe three ways that Wegener's continental drift hypothesis has helped to shape modern plate tectonic theory, and then explain why his hypothesis was not widely accepted by his peers when first proposed. Next, analyze at least two types of evidence used to support plate tectonic theory.
FELLOW STUDENT REPLY to help give you idea:
Landslides are geological hazards. There are contributing factors to landslides such as erosion by rivers, oceans and earthquakes create stresses that make slopes weak. The main factor is gravity acting on an over steepened slope. However human activity can contribute to landslides facts as well. When humans keep stockpiling rock, ore, and waste piles it makes slopes weak. Another way humans contribute to landslides is man made structures that create stress on weak slope and cause them to fail.
Mauna Loa is world's largest mountain located in Hawaii. It is a shield volcano. If Mauna Loa was to erupt it would cause disastrous damage. The volcano has mi j lava and is predicted that the lava would reach coastline within hours of an eruption. The lava would cause damage to roads and houses of Hawaii. If the eruption is more explosive ash could cover the island. Both situations would be declining the environment as well as the tourism. The volcano is being monitored just in case it does erupt. Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines is a stratovolcano that is still active. It has erupted in the past and if it does so again it will have similar effects. The volcano will have huge ash clouds surrounding the island causing weather changes. The eruption will cause a drop in temperature and add aerosols in the air. The addition of aerosols damages the ozone layer resulting in a decline in the protection of the stratosphere. Mount Pinatubo would cause hundreds of deaths and ruin the environment. Both eruptions will lead to devastation and a state of panic for the islands.
Three ways that Wegener's continental drift hypothesis has helped to shape modern plate tectonic theory are his theory sparked the idea the world is on uneven plates, that the land beneath does move, and the world's crust is always moving. Wegener's hypothesis was never accepted by his peers. His hypothesis crossed other theories that have been already proven. Also he did not have the evidence or support to validate his theory.