Evaluation of Flexible Benefit Plans

Employer-sponsored benefits reflect the culture and business of the organization, and plans should be crafted and selected accordingly. Think about your current (or former) organization's benefit plan. Did it help to improve the quality of your work as well as your personal life? Why or why not? Was it a generous benefits program or were there specific benefits you felt should have been included?

Parsons and Bales develop fundamental assumptions about 1950s society that allow them to build their model of the ideal “modern” family. The underlying assumptions are everchanging and not true of our current society and thus are the main reasons why the their model of the family is inefficient and unattainable. One assumption made is that the industrial economy is the significant force behind the emergence of the male breadwinning family. He failed to consider the social conditions that influenced the model’s prominence during the 50’s. Parsons had very little actual observations or statistics that supported the popularity of his model of the nuclear family. Rather, it could be argued that his theory was mostly based on speculation. Studies show that the nuclear family

This social policy also largely supports the traditional nuclear family as in the nuclear family the man and woman are married and it also certainly encourages the co-habiting couple to be married as there are more benefits for married couples. The Child Support Agency set up in 1993 make absent parents financially responsible, meaning the parent with the children does not claim from the state. This somewhat reflects the nuclear family as the nuclear family are seen as financially independent- not dependent on the state.

Today’s workforce is not all the same and the older generation was more concerned with pay and benefits rather than flexible work hours or work/life balance programs. The company offers 20 different investment plans for 401k. The company also offers profit sharing, life insurance and accident insurance. By having the option to choose which benefits an employee wants to enroll in it helps the employee take control of their own benefits instead of the company offering a set plan that may or may not fit the needs of what an employee is looking for from their employer. By giving employees a choice it helps keep costs down instead of automatically enrolling employees in programs the employee feels they do not need at the present time.

September. 1945. World War II has just ended and the men are coming back from overseas. The influx of soldiers, sailors, and airmen cause most of the women to leave their jobs because the men are back. Husbands and boyfriends are returning to their women, thus prompting the start of the “Baby Boomers” generation. Seeing as many of the women no longer need to hold up jobs, some quit to raise children and care for their husbands. Before the war, there was an image in the United States of a Nuclear Family; a husband, a wife, and a couple of children. The war had caused an interruption of this seemingly perfect picture, but with the end of conflict, Nuclear Families were able to sprout up and continue growing. Men were once again the

During the industrial revolution, the nuclear family was considered the norm, consisting of a mother and father living together with two biologically related children. Traditionally, the wife stayed home as the homemaker and looking after the children without pay. While the husband earns the money through working at a job away from the home. Furze (2015 p. 174) states that ‘in the 1940s and 1950s, many sociologists and the general communities of Western countries such as Australia and New Zealand considered the traditional nuclear family the most widespread and ideal family form.’ Additionally, backing this statement up Fletcher (2017) claims that ‘from a functionalist perspective the nuclear family is ideally suited to meet the necessities

Today’s workplace has expanded with a variety of men and women working for different businesses throughout the United States. The increase of working men and women has brought successful businesses to thrive and meet company’s needs and goals. Employers offer hourly or salary wages to his or her employees and may also include benefits. Every business must have insurance for the company just in case something was to happen, such as a fire, a break in, employee injury or accident. Companies also provide employees health benefits, but the company must choose and decide to work with a health insurance

Employees will have multiple choices in health care, life insurance, profit sharing, employee stock ownership plans, exercise facilities,

Benefits is an imperative factor that employees need in order to be satisfied and engaged in their place of employment. There are benefits that are required which include giving time off to vote, jury duty, withhold and pay certain taxes and applying with FMLA. Although some benefits are required, there are some that’s not required such as retirement, health, dental, and life insurance plans and paid vacations, holidays and sick leave (Basics of Employment Benefits, 2017). Managers should use these benefits to their advantage to maintain their

The idyllic American family has changed drastically over the years. What once was a traditional father-mother-child household has turned to a single-parent-child dynamic. As far back as time goes we can see the nuclear family, where the father is the provider and protector of the family and the mother cares for the home and children. Throughout past decades the nuclear family has waned considerably as we watch government step in to protect and provide by means of local police or National Guard and programs like WIC or welfare, and women are enabled to find their independence. Statistically, the nuclear family is almost non-existent, in an article by Blanchard-Fields, Hertzog, Stein, and Pak it states, “The traditional family model—the husband as breadwinner and the wife as homemaker—makes up only 7% of the families in U.S. society.”

As a mid-sized organization of 100-250 employees the goal is to provide the widest array of employee benefits possible, without breaking the bank. The company wants to offer a benefit package to support the needs of its employees and serve to motivate, when taken as part of the total rewards package. That said, there are some benefits in which the company is required to offer and need will to consider their cost and benefit first, before adding in other non-mandated benefits. The company’s obligations are explored below in more detail.

9-2: Discuss your views about whether discretionary employee benefits should be an entitlement or something earned based on job performance.

Chapter conclusion: Benefits for employees are very important for companies. Benefits for employees include various insurance plans, paid vacation days, paid sick leave, paid days off, etc. Different companies need to establish different benefit plans based on their company conditions. In brief, benefit in one of the bridge between employers and employees.

Employee benefits are a tool used by businesses to attract potential applicants, improve employee satisfaction, reduce turnover and maintain competition. Benefits that most employers offer include, but are not limited to, medical and dental coverage, time away from work, retirement, and additional assistance during life changing events. The majority of employers in the United States offer benefits to their employees and include an annual enrollment yearly to select benefits and make any needed changes.

The legally required employee benefits constitute nearly a quarter of the benefits package that employers provide. These benefits include employer contributions to Social Security, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation insurance. Altogether such benefits represent about twenty-one and half percent of payroll costs.