Business Finance Homework Help

I need an explanation for this Management question to help me study.

R1

LO 1: Many organizations are concerned about the rising cost of employee benefits and question their value to the organization and to the employees.

• In your opinion, what benefits are of greatest value to employees? To the organization? Why?

In my opinion, health/dental/eyecare benefits are the greatest value to employees. An employee that knows that their employer offers a solid healthcare option can feel confident in their decision to work for that company. I also think that with the current lifestyle caused by the pandemic, telecommuting and work from home options are close to the top of an employee’s benefit wish list. People like having the flexibility to work in the office or from home. I also think that the vacation time/time off benefits the employer offers would be desirable to employees.

In my opinion, some of the same benefits are of the greatest value to the organization as well. By providing a good healthcare option, the employer knows that the employee can get the health care they need, which typically means less time missed at work. By providing good vacation options, the employer can make sure the employee takes time off when needed in hopes of avoiding burnout. I think that an employee assistance program would also be beneficial for the employer because they know that their employees have the option to get help when needed.

LO 2: Employers are required by law to provide specific benefits to employees. What laws mandate benefits to employees, and what are the provisions of those laws?

The law mandated benefits that employers must provide are Social Security Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Workers’ Compensation Insurance, Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA). The Social Security Act was passed in 1935 and protects workers against the loss of earnings resulting from old age and unemployment. It was amended to include disability or dependents, in case of death of the worker supporting them and is known as Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI). COBRA was enacted in 1986 and mandates that employees make health coverage available to employees, their spouses, and their dependents upon termination, death, or divorce. FMLA was passed and became effective in 1993, and states that a covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for covered reasons. OWBPA was passed in 1990 and is a companion piece of legislation to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The act prohibits age-based discrimination in early retirement and other benefits.

R2

LO 1 In my opinion benefits are highly valuable to employees. The employees are also liable to get benefits that are variable and are the part and parcel of the salary package. These can include house rent allowance, travel allowance, allowance for the education and development of the employees, childcare etc.

Health, life and disability benefits should also be included in the salary as a variable. Telephone allowance if the job requires lots of calls to the prospective buyers and customers. Various insurance policies with respect to care of the health and family is a must benefit that an employee is liable to get.

There are also some legally required benefits that are mandatory for the employer to provide to the employees like employee stock option plans, provident fund, health and family insurance etc.

The firm should also provide paid leaves and holidays for the employees to recreate and refresh their mental and physical health. This way productivity can be increase.

Retirement benefits also are derived from company to company and employees are liable to get these benefits.

LO 2

Legally required benefits by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are retirement income, medical care, worker’s compensation, and unemployment insurance to name a few. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires any organization that employs 50 or more full-time employees must provide healthcare coverage (Grove, 2019). Not offering sufficient or affordable health insurance to full-time employees could result in an assessment and possible penalties from the federal government. According to Grove (2019), If your private business employs more than 50 employees, the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires that your company provide its workers with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave while still protecting their job security.

Grove, A. (2019, September 18). 5 Employee Benefits You Are Legally Required to Provide. SWBC. https://blog.swbc.com/businesshub/5-employee-benefits-you-are-legally-required-to-provide

R3

LO 1: When OSHA was enacted in 1970, it was heralded as the most important new source of protection for the U.S. worker in the second half of the twentieth century. From the information in this chapter, what is your opinion about the effectiveness or the ineffectiveness of the act? Should it be expanded, or should businesses have more freedom to determine safety standards for their workers?

I think that OSHA could be viewed as being effective. It was definitely effective because it helped to lead to the establishment of safety and health standards that businesses need to be aware of and uphold. Businesses could be having their employees work in unsafe working conditions if there wasn’t an act like OSHA that laid out the safety and health standards that were required for employees. The implementation of OSHA has been very effective in reducing the number of injuries resulting in lost work time, as well as the number of job-related deaths. I don’t necessarily think that it needs to be expanded, but I do think that businesses should be mindful of any sort of safety standards they are reviewing to enforce in the workplace. I think that a business needs to be sure that they are following all OSHA guidelines and then determine if there is any area that OSHA doesn’t cover in their specific business to determine next steps. OSHA is very wide reaching, covering safety topics, including chemical hazards, as well as healthy workplace topics, including stress and employee assistance programs. A specific business may have gaps in what OSHA covers and what the business hopes to achieve that could be rectified by giving businesses more freedom to determine the safety standards for their workers, but it could turn into a slippery slope very quickly.

R4

DThe effectiveness of OSHA could be calculated by assuming that in the U.S. almost all the companies have passed their safety norms under the guidelines of OSHA. It is mandatory for the companies to have their safety and protections norms strong and work on them. Without OSHA there would be companies with unsafe working conditions. It is however ineffective due to the political administration that is in office cutting the budget. Without a standard budget the act will not be effective. I do not feel that OSHA should be expanded, but it does need to be amended due to new technological advancements that have happened since the act was originally enacted. The standards of safety have been set for companies by companies should be able to have some freedom to determine safety standards for their employees, that go further or above those set by OSHA.