Medical benefit

Some large organisations provide medical benefits to their retired workers and their family members. This benefit composes a feeling of permanent connection with the organisation to the workers even when they are no longer in service.

Welfare and recreational benefits include following: (a) consumer societies, (b), canteens (c) credit societies, (d) legal aid, (e) housing (f) holidays homes, (g) welfare organisations, (h) employee counselling, (i) parties and picnics (j) transportation, (k) educational facilities, and (l) miscellaneous.

A.    Canteens: Possibly no employee benefit has attained as much attention in current years as that of canteens. Some of the organisations have statutory compulsion to provide such kind of facilities as Section 46 of the Factories Act, 1948, imposes a statutory compulsion to employer to provide canteens in factories where employing more than 250 workers. Others have provided such type of facilities voluntarily. At subsidised prices foodstuffs are supplied in these canteens. Some of the companies provide lunchrooms while canteen facilities are not available.

B.     Consumer stores: Mostly large organisations located far from the towns and which provide facilities of housing near the organisation set up the consumer stores in the employee's colonies and supply all the essential goods at fair prices.

C.     Credit societies: The goal of setting up of these societies is to encourage thrift & provide loan facilities at reasonable prices and conditions, primarily to workers. Some of the organisations encourage workers to form cooperative credit societies having a view to fostering self-help rather than depending upon money lenders, while some of the organisations provide directly loans to employees.

D.    Housing: Of all the needed of the workers, decent and low-cost housing accommodation is of big significance. The difficulty of housing is one of the major causes for fatigue and worry amongst employees and this comes in the way of discharging their duties effectively. Mostly large factories organisations, for example sugar mills, are situated very far from towns, at location where housing facilities are not available. Therefore mostly all of organisations have built up quarters nearer to factory and have therefore provided cheap and decent housing facilities to their workers, whereas a few organisations provide and/or arrange for housing loans to workers and encourage them to construct houses.

E.     Legal aid: Organisations provide assistance or aid regarding legal matters to employees also as and while necessary through company lawyers or other lawyers.

F.      Employee counselling: Organisations provide counselling service to the worker regarding their personal difficulty through professional counsellors. Worker counselling decrease, turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, etc.

G.    Welfare organisations, welfare officers: Some of large organisations set up welfare organisations having a view to provide all kinds of welfare facilities at one centre and assign welfare officers to provide the welfare benefits constantly and effectively to all of the employees fairly.

H.      Holiday homes: Since a measure of staff welfare and in pursuance of government's rule, a few big organisations established holiday homes at a number of hill stations, health resorts and other centres having low charges of accommodation, so as to encourage workers to utilize this facility for recuperations and rest in a salubrious environment.

I.       Educational facilities: Organisations provide educational facilities to the workers and to their family members. Educational facilities include reimbursement of tuition fees, setting up of hostels, schools, colleges, providing grants-in-aid to the other schools where large number of students are from the children of workers. Furthermore, the organisations provide rooms and libraries for the advantage of employees.

J.       Transportation: Most of large Companies provide conveyance facilities to workers, from their residence to the place of work & back, as most of the industries are located outside town and all of the employees might not get quarter facility.

K.    Parties and picnics: Companies provide these facilities having a view to inculcating a sense of belongingness, association, openness and freedom among employees. These activities help workers to understand others better.

L.     Miscellaneous: Organisations provide other benefits as, sports with awards, organising games, setting up of clubs, Christmas gifts, Diwali, Pongal and Pooja gifts, birthday gifts, community service activities, leave travel concession annual awards, productivity/performance awards, etc.