Human Resource Management Revised

Human Resource Management
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QUESTION 1
Many organizations are concerned about the rising cost of employee benefits and question their value to the organization and the employees. In your opinion, what benefits are of most significant value to employees? To the organization? Why?
From a personal perspective, I believe that medical and retirement benefits have more value to the employees as compared to the other types of benefits (Snell & Bohlander, 2013). However, any benefit is of value to the organization. The more benefits a company offers its employees, the more likely it will retain its employees and more talented employees will also want to join the organization. The organization grows to be more competitive in the industry as compared to its competitors since highly gifted employees will be attracted to that particular organization.
To increase the value of the organization in the job market, the management needs to inform the employees about the benefits that the company offers. Moreover, it needs to involve the employees in deciding which benefits are most important to them (Mamorsky, 2017). This will enable the management to provide flexible benefits that will enhance employee satisfaction and will improve the company value in the job market.
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 social security act- An employer is entitled to pay social security taxes as a similar rate to the one paid by employees (Snell & Bohlander, 2013).

Unemployment insurance is also mandated at the state level, making the law vary from one state to the other. Moreover, workers compensation usually provides benefits to those employees who have been disabled by injuries or illnesses that resulted from their workplace.
On the other hand, employees insurance varies from one state to the other. An organization that had twenty or more staff members on more than 50% of its primary working days in the previous calendar year is subject to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) (Snell & Bohlander, 2013). The COBRA act provides continued health coverage for any retiree, former employee, dependent children and spouses (Mamorsky, 2017).
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act- It states that a company that employs more than fifty people who work for more than thirty hours per week and does not pay their health insurance is liable to a penalty to the government (Rao, 2007).
Assume you were hired as a benefits consultant to a small business, having 50 to 60 employees. What benefits do you believe this employee should offer, given limited resources? Justify your reasons.
Retirement Benefits: These benefits allow employees to save for their future and offer benefits at tax time. A company that provides retirement benefits is always seen as one that values its employees, thus helps the company reduce turnovers (Snell & Bohlander, 2013).
Health Benefits: They help the employee and his or her family from financial loss for costs that may be incurred due to injury or sickness. This improves the productivity and morale of the employees since they are assured that their health can be catered for in the event of illness or injury (Mamorsky, 2017).
Family and medical leave: In this case, the company can offer eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. However, the 12 weeks do not need to be consecutive. On the other hand, maternity leave may be classified underpaid leave (Snell & Bohlander, 2013).
Workers compensation and disability insurance: These benefits will help protect those workers who get injuries or are disabled due to work-related activities. They assure the employees about the safety of their physical being (Snell & Bohlander, 2013).
Describe 401 (k) or 403 (b) pension plans, listing their advantages and disadvantages. Would you like the money to be managed for you or would you prefer to have more freedom to choose your investments?
The 401 (k) plans allow employees to save part of their salary through deductions from their payroll, which also lowers the employee’s taxable income and have their savings matched by the employer. An employer is usually entitled to match the contributions at the rate of 25 to 50 cents for every dollar contributed by the employee (Rao, 2007). 401 (k) returns usually depends on the amount that goes into the plan, and there is always no guarantee of the payments. As an employee, I would like to have total control over the venture resolutions on my 401 (k) (Rao, 2007). The market risks are the most common threats that may face an employee’s retirement savings, and for that reason, I would like to have some control where the contributions are being invested (Snell & Bohlander, 2013).
QUESTION 2
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 and your Internet search, 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?
Since the OSHA act was passed, the workplace injuries have decreased as compared to the previous times (LaTourrette & Mendeloff, 2008). It has been useful in the establishment of safety and health standards of companies. From a personal perspective, the absence of the OSHA act would have encouraged some companies not to set safety and health standards for their employees. Without the set standards, more employee injuries would have been experienced, and less compensation would be awarded to the victims (LaTourrette & Mendeloff, 2008). However, expanding the enforcement power of OSHA may not generate substantial improvements in employees’ safety. For example, the mine safety and health administration usually conduct more inspections and have more substantial penalties than OSHA, yet the impact they have on the safety of miners from those additional efforts is still minimal (Snell & Bohlander, 2013). When the regulation is excessive, it might reduce the level of compliance, and the firms’ incentive to improve safety might also reduce. Moreover, financial incentives that most firms face are also among the reasons for OSHA’s minimal impact on the safety of employees. Despite the already set OSHA standards, companies need to be given freedom to determine the type of safety standards for their staff since the technology had advanced since the act was established (Roberts, Burton, Bodah & Thomason, 2005). Some of the company safety standards may be above the OSHA standards (LaTourrette & Mendeloff, 2008).
How has OSHA affected your workplace?
At my workplace, OSHA has made workers to have a perfect environment to perform their duties. The number of injuries is meager, and this is mainly attributed to the high levels of health and safety ideas that the enterprise has adopted. Although setting up the safety measures seem to have been costly at the initial point, there is clear evidence that the company incurs fewer amounts of medical insurance and compensation of injured employees. Moreover, the level of absenteeism is low since the injuries do not occur often.
Please tell us about the state of worker safety in your organization? Is security a priority? Does your employer believe safety is critical or do them simply go through the motions to comply with minimum safety standards established by law?
At my workplace, the management has ensured that the consultation process at the company gives the employees an opportunity to be included in the decision making that may impact their safety and health in the workplace. The organization has ensured that specific systems of safety management are integrated into the auditing and training systems. Some elements of the system include the company policies and the legal requirements. All employees are required to abide by the details of their training and comply with the policies put in place. For example, staff members should not interfere with the firefighting tools or any item that is installed for safety purposes. An employee is required to report any damaged equipment or hazard in case he or she comes across one. The company views employees safety and health as critical since it has set more policies that guarantee safety and health of all employees despite their rank at the company. Moreover, there are employee benefits that have been established to help any person that may be injured at work.

References
Mamorsky, J. D. (2017). Employee Benefits Law: ERISA and Beyond. Law Journal Press.
LaTourrette, T. & Mendeloff, J. (2008). Mandatory workplace safety and health programs: implementation, effectiveness, and benefit-cost offs. Santa trade- Monica, CA: RAND Corp.
Rao, V. (2007). Human resources management: text and cases. New Delhi: Excel Books.
Roberts, K., Burton, J., Bodah, M. & Thomason, T. (2005). Workplace injuries and diseases: prevention and compensation: essays in honor of Terry Thomason. Kalamazoo, Mich: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
Snell, S. & Bohlander, G. (2013). Managing human resources. Mason, Ohio Andover: South-Western Cengage Learning distributor.