Dimitri Jones November 4,2020
BUS311-1900 Professor Brielle Buckler
Assignment 9- Benefits
As defined in our week lecture benefits are indirect financial and non-financial payments that employees of a company receive for their employment within the company. In most cases this is how employers tend to recruit recognize and retain the employees. Benefits such as social security, unemployment and different family or medical leaves are required to by laws to be provided by the employer. Although laws require these benefits there are also other benefits that are at the discretion of the employer that can be provided such as PTO, pensions, personal leaves and so much more. I have conducted two different interviews and I am including my own benefits that will show you the difference discretionary benefits
First, I would like to cover my own benefits that are provided to me as a School Safety Agent. Some of the discretionary benefits include free health, dental and vision insurance. I also receive one sick and one vacation day per month while receiving all national holidays off. At my job I also have the ability to choose if I would like my overtime to be paid to me in time, this allows me to accrue more time if I would like to take extended vacations. Working for the NYPD another benefit would come with education, we have special scholarships that are provided to us that can cover up to 80% of our tuition. In addition to the benefits we have for education we also have accidental, terminal and counseling benefits. The accidental and terminal are provided to us in the event we get hurt off the job or develop an illness. Counseling benefits allow us to receive counseling instead of going to work while still getting paid to make sure we are okay mentally. Lastly, working under the NYPD we are automatically enrolled in a separate pension sets us up for life after retirement.
The first interview I conducted was a Bus Matron who works for a private company. The first difference I noticed came with sick days and holidays. As a bus matron they received only three sick days for the year and no vacation days. Also being a Bus matron, their schedule is determined by the children attending school which means breaks throughout the year and day. During Christmas breaks, Spring recess and summer break they are required to file unemployment instead of being paid for the time off. The job does not provide any additional benefits for education and require them to pay for their insurance offered through the job. I did notice that her job offers her a uniform allowance to pay for her uniform and additional retirement savings for the 401k.
The final interview conducted was with a Transitional Care Manager. The two benefits that stood out to me was the tuition reimbursement program and the stock program. Her job provides her with 100% reimbursement for money spent towards education. Her job also provides them with a private system to invest in stocks rewarding her with free stocks based on yearly evaluations. Her job also offers a free life insurance police while giving free yoga and counseling sessions. She has the same PTO policy as my job which awards her 1 sick and 1 vacation day a month.
In my personal opinion I like the benefits my job and the transitional care managers job provides. The overtime structure my job provides allows me to accumulate time to take vacations and spend time away from work in order to enjoy life. The transitional care managers benefits providing tuition reimbursement and providing me stocks shows me a company cares about my growth. Personally the ability to gain stability financial, grow, and accumulate time off to enjoy life seems perfect to me. These benefits are definitely sustainable because it doesn’t cost much and it serves as a reward based on good performance. Stock prices vary so a job doesn’t always have to spend top dollar for a stock. Working for time or money allows you to choose your reward whether its money or time.
Hi Dimitri, thank you for sharing the benefit packages in NYPD with us, free insurance, generous PTO, high percentage of tuition reimbursement and special counseling benefits are definitely competitive compares to many small business. I agree with you that the benefits are sustainable that shows how employer care about the employees and will return to employer with good work ethic.
Hey Dimitri,
The benefits you receive as a school safety agent is amazing! you cant go wrong with them. Looking at the choices between a bus matron and school safety agent is a major difference. Keep up the great job!
Great breakdown of benefits between the different jobs Dimitri. You displayed a great understanding of how company benefits can add great value to a job opening and how one can excel and want to continue to work for an employer that has this figured out. Your benefits as a school safety are great and show a clear difference in comparison to that of the Bus Matron. Often private company’s tend to offer less desirable benefits as profit margins are different from public companies that can offer employees much more based on how the company is structured and ran. After reading the summary, it made me wonder why anyone would want to work for such a company that seemingly doesn’t value an employee’s personal time. I understand that everyone’s living is different but for me personally, some things are just non-neogiable.
Hi Dimitri-
I really enjoyed reading your post on employee benefits and you articulated them in a comprehensive manner. You also highlight some of the accrued advantages that these benefits have on the organization with include recognition and retention of employees. Better still, I think it was a good idea to incorporate your own experiences and the benefits you receive in your area of work as a school safety agent in addition to the two different interviews you conducted.
The comparisons with employees from other sectors provide crucial insight on the diverse nature of these benefits depending on the area of work. For example, I noticed that you as an NYPD worker have the benefit of free counselling services as opposed to a bus matron who may not encounter very stressful situations as you do. On the other hand, the Transitional Care Manager enjoys counselling services as well due to the nature of her job.
Therefore, the several benefits allow for workers to choose how they want to be rewarded for their services. This choice determines the ability of the company to attract talented and competent employees in their organizations leading to increased productivity and profitability. However, the sustainability of this benefit perks is not that clear as they cost the companies money that could otherwise reduce profitability.
Comments to classmates
Hello Dimitri,
Thanks, you for your Post
The reference you made in your first paragraph describing the Federal and State Laws mandate of certain benefits and the voluntary discretionary benefits was a good point of distinguishing the two at the beginning. I agree that benefits are a way organization recruit, retain & recognize employees as described in the Unit Lecture.
In your 2nd paragraph, it was easy to understand how you described the Discretionary benefits on the part of the employer. Your description of the benefits described indicated the NYPD’s policy of overtime accruals. From Unit9 your reference of Pension, the unit suggested that employers are moving away from pensions and towards 401K plans. However, your automatic enrollment in this pension program, and the prospect of it setting you up for life is a good motivator and probably provides some loyalty to the NYPD, especially if you an get a higher rate of pay at another organization.
The other two interviews you conducted helped to contrast the other benefits and was helpful in my understanding of your thoughts in your last paragraph, regarding the benefits you preferred. Particularly the overtime structure allowing you a better work life balance. I understand why you described what was important to your work life stability with respect to the variability of an organization’s stock price.
Thanks
Chris Narine