Learning Exercise 1- Chapter 12

You are a manager for a furniture manufacturer in High Point, NC. A number of your employees have come to you and told you that they should receive additional benefits. Your company currently offers the following: health care insurance for which the employee pays one-third of the premium and the company pays two-thirds, dental insurance and vision care at no cost to the employee, and reduced-cost parking. Also, employees receive accidental death and dismemberment insurance and long-term disability insurance at no cost to them. Most employees receive 8 sick days per year that can be used only for illness, and 10 vacation days after three years at the company. The employees want you to provide the following:

Reduced-cost child care
Legal resources
Long-term care insurance
Short-term disability
Twenty personal leave days that they can take at any time (to replace the current sick days and vacation days)
The employees are telling you that these benefits are provided by other companies in the area. Develop a plan of action for how you would respond in this situation.

Outline what steps you would take, including where you would find relevant information and the options that would be available to you if you are (1) in a large company with a compensation and benefits staff in a human resources department and (2) if you are a small business owner.
Provide documentation of the research you do to find benefits data for the software industry and the specific location.
Are there additional benefits you identified that some companies are offering that you could/should also offer?