Final Exam Flashcards
Decisions about which benefits to include should take into account:
The organization’s goals
The organization’s budget
The needs and expectations of the current and future employees
What are the only government mandated benefits
Workers Compensation and unemployment compensation
Workers Compensation
Benefits provided to persons injured on the job
Fully funded by employers through insurance
What if the injury is the employee’s fault?
Unemployment compensation
A Federal/state payroll tax that funds state unemployment systems
Employers pay fixed amount into state system, but percentage paid into federal system varies based on the number of people they “unemploy” who draw benefits
Who is eligible?
Involuntarily out of work, actively looking for employment
HIPAA
makes sure any medical information the company collect is kept private
COBRA
If you are separated from a company (fired or quit) you can participate in companies health care for up to 18 months (but you pay everything)
Wellness Program Participatory
You get benefits for telling people that you are being more healthy
There are no tests to determine if you are actually being more healthy
Wellness Program - Health Contingent
○ You get the benefit If you can show that you are benefiting your health (has to be measured or demonstrated)
FMLA Eligibility Requirements
employed for at least 12 months by the employer
employed for at least 1250 hours of service during the 12 month period prior to the leave
Employed at a work site at which the employer employs at least 50 employees within 75 miles
FMLA Benefits
Employers must allow eligible employees to take up to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12 month period (or 24 weeks if military situation)
Birth of a child and to care for that child
Adoption or foster placement of son or daughter
Care for a spouse, child or parent who has a serious medical condition
One’s own serious medical condition that makes the individual unable to perform the job
Employees have the right to continued health benefits and the right to return to their job or a job of equivalent status or pay.
Interpretive Issues that accompany FMLA
What constitutes 12 months of service?
What constitutes 1250 hours of service?
based on the records the company kept
if 12 months of service then 1250 hours of service is assumed unless the employer can prove otherwise
How do you calculate 50 employees within 75 miles?
most common work location or location of the supervisor and taking the customary route
Social Security Act of 1935
Established a system providing old age, survivor’s, disability, and retirement benefits.
Federal payroll tax on both the employer and the employee.
(if self employed you pay both)
Benefit payments are based on employee’s lifetime earnings.
Defined Benefit Plan (Pension)
Guaranteed retirement income based on age and length of service
Typically non-contributory (funded by employer only) in the private sector
Monitored by ERISA – Employee Retirement Income Security Act (1974)
Still around…but becoming very uncommon
ERISA – Employee Retirement Income Security Act (1974)
Requires firms to offer retirement plans to employees working 1000 hours in a period of 12 consecutive months if offered to any employees.
Accrued benefits must be paid to departing employees.
Requires minimum funding for IRS approval and purchase of plan termination insurance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)
Defined Contributions Plan
aka 401k, 403b
Typically contributory (funded by employer and employee)
Amount of retirement income will vary based on investment performance
Portability – the right to roll over (move) the funds to another plan
Vesting
length of time it takes to be legally entitled to employer-provided plan benefits
They contribute to the 401k but you are not entitled to the full amount until a certain amount of time
4 year vesting? 25% per year vested
Flexible Benefit plan
A plan (flex or cafeteria) that allows employees to select the benefits they prefer from groups of benefits established by the employer.
Implied Contract
The idea that a contract exists between the employer and the employee based on the implied promises of the employer.
Continued employment is implied (not recognized in all states)
Contractual Rights
Rights based on a specific contract between employer and employee.
Can be spelled out formally in written employment contracts or implied in employee handbooks and published policies
Employment Contract/ Non-compete Agreements
An agreement that formally outlines the details of employment.
Good Faith and Fair dealings exceptions to employment at wil
• It there is something that is unfair about the termination even though there employment at will and employee can get damages
If the employee is a good employee and can show that and they are fired for some unethical reason there is a possibility to get damages for their firing
There is also a public policy exception where the employee is asked to do something illegal and get fired for refusing
As long as employee does the job and is not criticized for poor performance, continued employment is implied.
Employee’s Duty of Loyalty
An employee has an obligation to not degrade the employer’s reputation, service, or products
Keys for forming a defene against wrongful discharge
Keep records of performance appraisals Maintain written records of behaviors leading to discharge Written warnings group involvement written grounds for dismissal
Just Cause
did the punishment fit the offense
Due Process
Was the employee treated fairly during the investigation?
Constructive Discharge
An employer deliberately makes working conditions intolerable for an employee in an attempt to get (to force) that employee to resign or quit.
Did working conditions become so intolerable (harassment) that a reasonable person in the employee’s position would have felt compelled to resign?
