Various factors are involved in determining whether to include health, welfare, and retirement plans in the compensation strategy. Business Express must consider employee satisfaction and retention since employees seek companies offering the most benefits. Highly competent employees expect medical, vision, and dental coverage. The organization has to address workers’ engagement and overall satisfaction in determining whether to include the additional benefits. Including additional packages in the overall compensation plan requires investing in support services to boost employees’ morale and overall contentment with their positions and tasks.
The company’s leadership should study market competitiveness by benchmarking the benefits offered by key rivals. It is necessary to ensure that Business Express offers matching or better packages to attract top talent across the various divisions. The management ensures workers’ performance aligns with the company’s objectives (Newman, Ford, & Marshall, 2020). If alignment is established, the company’s leaders should consider integrating the additional packages since such employees are unlikely to leave. The company should also determine whether integrating the packages into the compensation plan is financially feasible. An excellent way to do this is by assessing the cost framework of the additional benefits that workers require.
Legal factors should be assessed when developing and compiling a compensation plan. Companies such as Business Express should clearly understand the key legal regulations and requirements governing the compensation strategy. The management should ensure ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) compliance. ERISA guidelines protect workers’ rights and assets upon retirement (DOL, 2023). The company must be transparent in addressing the retirement benefits function. Business Express should consider compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Some job categories require employers to consider the legal implications of ACA. Business Express’ managers must analyze and respond to the packages that require co-sharing and co-paying.
Non-discrimination is a key legal factor to be considered when determining the benefits to include in the compensation strategy. Discrimination evidence can easily lead to expensive and time-consuming suits (Wachter, Mittelstadt, & Russell, 2021). Business Express should propose uniform benefits under the compensation strategy. The company should consider its ability to adhere to HIPAA privacy rules which guarantee protections for workers’ medical confidentiality (Moore & Frye, 2019). As the organization provides additional packages to its workers, it has to address the need for enhanced privacy provisions. Protecting workers’ information from unauthorized exposure ensures accountability and safe portability. The organization should only accept the duty if it is willing to safeguard employees’ privacy.
The company can provide health and welfare benefits as part of the compensation strategy through various options. It can give workers access to group health insurance which covers vision, medical, and dental services. The services have to cover preventive care, visitation, and hospitalization. The management should explore flexible spending accounts (FSAs) since they allow individuals to contribute insurance funds before taxation (Hageman & St. George, 2019). The money can also be directed to childcare or regular copayments. Health savings accounts (HSA) are another potential solution for benefitting workers via tax relief. The solution is an excellent way to extract value from savings, as HSAs are tax-deductible.
Business Express should consider an in-house wellness program providing nutrition counseling, health screening, and fitness classes. While this option attracts heavy capital expenses, it increases the likelihood that the workers will utilize the benefit. A wellness center will minimize the incidences of medical complications, lowering the overall costs incurred by the employees and the workers (Grimani, Aboagye, & Kwak, 2019). It will also increase workers’ compliance with healthier lifestyle recommendations. In addition, it aligns with the need to maximize workers’ productivity through fewer sick days and medical breaks.
Providing comprehensive health and welfare benefits will enhance their well-being and satisfaction. Business Express should consider the operation and functional factors associated with including the health and welfare benefits under the compensation strategy. The overarching rationale is that the change will increase worker satisfaction and allow the company to attract top talent. The organization should also address key legal factors associated with integrating the two packages under the compensation function. The best option for including health and welfare in the compensation plan should be employee-centric.
References
DOL. (2023). “Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).” https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/retirement/erisa#:~:text=The%20Employee%20Retirement%20Income%20Security,for%20individuals%20in%20these%20plans.
Grimani, A., Aboagye, E., & Kwak, L. (2019). The effectiveness of workplace nutrition and physical activity interventions in improving productivity, work performance and workability: a systematic review. BMC public health, 19, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-8033-1
Hageman, S. A., & St. George, D. M. M. (2019). Health savings account ownership and financial barriers to health care: what social workers should know. Social Work in Public Health, 34(2), 176-188. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2019.1575310
Moore, W., & Frye, S. (2019). Review of HIPAA, part 1: history, protected health information, and privacy and security rules. Journal of nuclear medicine technology, 47(4), 269-272. https://doi.org/10.2967/jnmt.119.227819
Newman, S. A., Ford, R. C., & Marshall, G. W. (2020). Virtual team leader communication: Employee perception and organizational reality. International Journal of Business Communication, 57(4), 452-473. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488419829895
Wachter, S., Mittelstadt, B., & Russell, C. (2021). Why fairness cannot be automated: Bridging the gap between EU non-discrimination law and AI. Computer Law & Security Review, 41, 105567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2021.105567
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