Term
| What is the role of employee benefits? |
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Definition
- attracting, retaining, and motivating employees.
- employees have come to expect that benefits will help them maintain economic securites, and benefits impose significant costs.
- benefits are subject to government regulation, but tax laws can make benefits more favorable. |
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Term
| What are the five employee benefits required by law? |
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Definition
1.) Social Security
2.) Unemployment insurance
3.) Workers compensation insurance
4.) Family and medical leave
5.) Health care |
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Term
| What is the social security act of 1935? |
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Definition
- flat payroll tax on employees and employers.
- The federal old age, survivors, disability, and health insurance ( OASDHI program which combines oold age, survivors, disability, hospital, supplemental and prescription drug insurance. Employers and employees share the cost of social security through a payroll tax, the percentage is set by law |
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Term
| What is unemployment insurance? |
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Definition
- A federally mandated program administered by the states
- It focuses on minimizing the hardships of unemployment ie payments to unemployed workers, help in finding new jobs, and incentives to stabilize employment.
- Most funding comes from federal and state taxes on employers. The size of the unemployment tax imposed on each employer depends on the employer’s experience rating ( the number of employees a company has laid off in the past and the cost of providing them with unemployment benefits ). Careful human resource planning can minimize layoffs and keep their experience rating favorable |
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Term
| What are the four requirements for unemployment benefits? |
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Definition
1.) They meet requirements demonstrating they had been employed
2.) They are available for work
3.) They are actively seeking work. Includes registering at the local unemployment office.
4.) THey were not discharged for cause ( such as willful misconduct ), did not quit voluntarily, and are not out of work because of a labor dispute. |
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Term
| What is workers compensation? |
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Definition
- State programs that provide benefits to workers who suffer work related injuries or ilnesses, or to their survivors.
- operate under a principle of no fault liability ( An employee does not need to show that the employer was grossly negligent in order to recieve compensation.) |
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Term
| What are the four categories of workers compensation? |
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Definition
1.) Disability income
2.) Medical care
3.) death benefits
4.) rehabilitative services.
benefits are tax free
generally two thirds of the workers earning before disability. |
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Term
| What is the family medical leave act ( FMLA )? |
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Definition
| Requires organizations with 50 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks on unpaid leave after childbirth, serious illness, or for families serious illness. Employers must also guarantee these employees the same or comparable job when they return. Pregnancy discrimination act is when an employee is temporarily unable to perform her job they treat her like any other disabled employee. |
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Term
| What are some types of optional benefits? |
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Definition
1.) Paid leave
2.) Group insurance
3.) Retirement plans
4.) family friendly benefits
5) quality of work life benefits |
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Term
| What are the two types of retirement plans? |
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Definition
| Contributory, and non-contributory |
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Term
| What is a non contributory retirement plan? |
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Definition
| Retirment plan funded entirely by contributions from the employer |
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Term
| What is a contributory plan? |
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Definition
| Retirement plan funded by contributions from the employer and employee |
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Term
| Selecting Employee Benefits |
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Definition
| - Decisions about which benefits to offer should take into account the organizations goals and objectives, their budget, the expectations of the organizations current employees and those it wishes to recruit in the future. An organization that does not offer expected benefits will have difficulty attracting and keeping employees. |
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Term
| Communicating Benefits to Employees |
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Definition
Organizations must communicate benefits information to employees so that they will appreciate the value of their benefits. This is essential so that benefits can achieve their objective of attracting, motivating, and retaining employees. Employees are interested in their benefits, and the need a great deal of detailed information to take advantage of benefits.
Companies can communicate benefits to employees through and enrollment package, meetings, teleconference , email, summary plan, paycheck attachments, and webcasts. |
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Term
| What is the role of unions? |
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Definition
| To bethere for workers who have believed their needs and interests do not receive enough consideration from management. One response by workers is to act collectively by forming unions. Unions are organizations formed for the purpose of representing their members interests in dealing with employers. |
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Term
| What are labor relations? |
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Definition
| Field that emphasizes skills managers and union leaders can use to minimize costly forms of conflict ( such as strikes ) and to seek win win solutions to disagreements. |
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Term
| What are three labor relations management activities? |
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Definition
- Labor relations strategy ( whether or not the organization will work with unions to develop or maintain non union operations)
- Negotiating contracts
- Adminerstering activies ( Day to day activities in which union members and the organizations managers may have disagreements. |
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Term
| What is the national labor relations act ( NLRA )? |
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Definition
federal law that supports collective bargaining and sets out the rights of employees to form unions.
- The following activities are protected under the NLRA:
union organizing
joining a union, whether recognized by the employer or not
going out on strike to secure better working conditions
refraining from activity on behalf of the union |
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Term
| What is the taft hartley act? |
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Definition
- unions may not restrain employees through actions such as the following:
Mass picketing, violent acts, threatening employees, illegal provisions, termininating an existing contract. |
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Term
| What are right to work laws? |
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Definition
| State laws that make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal. |
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Term
| What is the Landum Griffin act? |
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Definition
| regulates unions actions with regard to their members, including financial disclosure and the conduct of elections. This law establishes and protects rights of union members. These include the right to nominate candidates for union office, participate in union meetings and secret ballot elections, and examine unions financial records. |
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