Никова, М.А. Тхе Басиц Иссуес оф Манагемент ин Усе

5.Комиссионные отчисления – это процент от цены продукта или услуги, который агенты по реализации продукции получают дополнительно к заработной плате.

6.Самые распространенные виды повышения заработной платы это: повышения за выслугу лет, надбавки за высокое качество работы и надбавки за повышение производительности труда.

7.Премии – это одноразовые выплаты, которые зависят от полученных результатов трудовой деятельности.

8.Поощрительные выплаты, как и премии, не увеличивают основную ставку заработной платы.

Ex. 7. Complete the sentences with an appropriate word.

Ex. 8. Independent reading.

Read the following text. Look up in the dictionary words and expressions you don’t know. Write them down, as well as translation. Try to

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use new words and expressions when answering the questions and participating in discussion (Ex. 9).

Generally, if you are not the owner of the company, you don’t decide, how much a particular individual should be paid. Your role, instead, is to alert senior management to the options available for building a compensation system. It’s your responsibility to make sure that your compensation and benefits package is competitive enough to keep your top employees with the company.

When you are establishing total compensation packages, you need to be both consistent and flexible. The two may sound contradictory, but they actually go hand in hand.

Consistency means that you have a logical plan and structure to everything you do in the area of compensation and benefits so that you don’t give an impression that you are showing favoritism or acting unpredictable. Flexibility means that you are doing your best – within reason - to adapt to the individual needs and desires of your employees.

The intended end result of balancing these two factors is a salary structure that not only gives your employees a proper compensation, but also focuses on the market realities of your business.

Ex. 9. Discussion time.

1.How will you explain the phrase «You need to be both consistent and flexible»?

2.Explain what it means «so you don’t give an impression that you are showing favoritism». Why is favoritism not good in business environment? What are pros and cons of approach with favoritism and approach, when everyone is treated equally? What is the possible way to retain the key employees without being too offensive to the rest of the company?

3.What is the intended result of the introduced benefits system?

Ex. 10. Essay writing.

1.How can the firm retain its employees?

2.What is important to take into account?

3.What are the main parts of the compensation package?

4.How can companies use compensation strategies?

Write a two pages essay using vocabulary and expressions from the text.

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Text 10. Benefits package1

Managing the benefits side of the HR function today is very different from the way it was 20 years ago. You have a lot more to think about these days when you are administering benefits – more administrative details, more pressure to reconcile employee desires with the financial realities of your business and more government regulation.

Much of this increased complexity is due to the changing face of the workplace. Today’s diverse workforce has diverse needs and this diversity extends to the benefits they want. Add to this a wide range of laws and healthcare and retirement plan options and you quickly see how complicated it can be to create and implement effective benefits programs.

As challenging as all these factors seem at first glance, you have opportunity here as well. If you know what you are doing in building and promoting a competitive benefits package, you can greatly strengthen your company’s ability to attract and retain top talent.

Specific employee benefits today take a multitude of forms – everything from the basics that you find in every benefits package (Social security, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance) to highly specialized offerings such as: multiple-option healthcare coverage, tuition reimbursement, child care and eldercare assistance, health club memberships and even on-site auto repair. Exactly which benefits you offer and how much of your payroll expense goes to pay for benefits are decisions that your company’s financial health and business philosophy must determine.

Social security and Medicare.

The Social Security system was originally designed to provide basic retirement income for all workers who have contributed to the plan and to provide healthcare benefits to Americans who are age 65 or older or become disabled. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for people 65 and older. Social security and Medicare are financed by payroll taxes.

1 This chapter informs exclusively about the US system of benefits and serves only for introducing the students to the terms and vocabulary of benefits.

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Unemployment insurance – provides basic income for workers who become unemployed through no faults of their own.

Workers’ compensation – provides protection for workers who suffer injuries or become ill on the job regardless of whether the employee or the employer was negligent. It pays medical bills, provides disability payments (income replacement) for permanent injuries and pays our lump sum death benefits.

Health insurance.

Health insurance is today’s most expensive employee benefit. It’s also the most difficult benefit to administer not just because of the cost, but also because of the many options available. The main challenge the companies face is to balance two contradictory objectives: keeping costs down while at the same time meeting employee needs. When deciding which type of plan to carry for your employees, you need to take into account the following factors:

♦Extent of coverage. Most plans offer the same basic coverage, which includes emergency trips to the hospital, illness related visits to doctors, most routine tests, most surgical procedures and hospitalization. What varies widely are extras.

♦Quality of care – you must make sure that any care program you choose has high standards and a quality reputation.

♦Cost – insurers generally base their pricing on three factors – the number of people that the plan covers, the demographics of your workforce (average age, number of children), and the amount of the deductible and copayment for the plan.

♦Ease of administration – the best plans offer an easy to use Web site and a 24-hour, 800 numbers that lets individuals to contact them easily.

Retirement plans.

In recent years companies have made a major change in the way they structure and manage retirement planning. In the past employees often spent their entire working lives with one company and received a set pension after they retired. If they changed jobs, they most likely lost all or a significant portion of the pension rights they’d earned at their old companies and had to start all over at the new firm.

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Now the business environment has changed radically. Rarely you see cases of the employee working at a single company for an entire career. In response to this dynamic new business culture retirement plans have become much more flexible and portable.

Family assistance.

Some ways in which companies provide these benefits are:

♦On-site child care

♦Contracted day-care for children and elders, when the company contacts with one or more outside providers to provide services for both the children and parents of employees

♦Vouchers – i.e. subsidies that you pay to employees to cover all or part of the cost of outside child care.

Time off.

Although many employees take the practice for granted, paying employees for days they don’t work – for holidays, vacations, sick days or personal days - is an important benefit. Each company has its own philosophy, but the following list offers general observations about paid days off:

♦Fixed number of paid holidays a year, such as New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Christmas and so on.

♦Vacation time. According to a 2005 study of vacation policies, the typical American employee is awarded 8.9 days of vacation time after one year on the job. This figure rises throughout the employee’s tenure – 11 days are granted after three years of service, 13.6 after five and up to 19/2 after 25 years with a single company.

Vacation accrual policies differ widely from one company to the next. Some companies enable their employees to bank vacation time and others require employees to take all vacation during the year in which they earn it.

Leaves of absence.

A Leave of absence is an arrangement whereby employees take an extended period of time off (usually without pay) but still maintain their employment status. In other words, they resume their normal duties when the leave is over. Employees either request or are granted leaves of absence for a variety of reasons: maternity, illness, education, travel, military obligations and so on.

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With certain key exceptions (military obligations), the specific policies regarding leaves of absence are not subject to federal and local law. The chief exception to that are leaves that are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act. Under this act companies with 50 or more people obligated by law to grant employees up to 12 weeks unpaid leave per year for any of the following reasons:

♦to care for newly born or newly adopted children (note that this right extends to both parents);

♦to care for a child, parent or spouse with a serious health condi-

tion;

♦to attend to a serious health condition that makes the worker unable to perform his or her job.

Sick days.

Formal sick leave policies generally limit how many sick days the company is willing to pay for (anywhere from 6 to 12 days a year). In addition, companies usually impose a limit on the number of sick days that employees can take in succession (after which employees may be entitled to non-paid leave of absences). Most companies have short term disability plans that start either immediately following an accident. Sometimes companies offer a reward for employees who don’t use their allotment of sick days – a cash payment for a percentage of an employee’s unused sick leave at year end.

Making sure that your employees have a thorough understanding of their benefits options should be one of the main priorities of your orientation program. You need to be able to write a brief description in simple clear language in an employee handbook of all the programs your company offers.

Vocabulary:

benefits – вознаграждение в не денежной форме, льготы; benefits package – совокупность льгот;

administer – применять, устанавливать; diversity – многообразие;

implement – внедрять; healthcare – здравоохранение;

healthcare plan – план медицинского страхования;

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payroll taxes – налог на фонд заработной платы (взимаемый в размере определённого процента от суммарных расходов предприятия на зарплату);

payroll expense – расходы, выплачиваемые из фонда заработной платы;

business philosophy – идеология бизнеса, система взглядов, принятая в компании;

worker’s compensation – страхование от несчастного случая на производстве;

negligent – небрежный, неосторожный; permanent injuries – увечье;

lump sum benefit – единовременно выплачиваемое пособие; contradictory – противоречивый;

extent of coverage – объем страхового покрытия;

deductible – часть страховой суммы, которую не оплачивает страховая компания. Чем она больше, тем, соответственно, меньше взносы по страховке. В Британском английском синоним этого по-

нятия – excess;

copayment – часть платежа за медицинские услуги, которую оплачивает застрахованное лицо при каждом оказании медицинских услуг;

reimbursement – возмещение, компенсация;

800 number – номер с кодом 800, за звонки на который не взимается плата;

on-site – находящийся в месторасположении чего-л. on-site child care – детские сады и ясли, расположенные непосредственно на территории или в здании компании;

vacation – отпуск, обычно оплачиваемый; tenure – срок нахождения в должности;

accrual policies – правила по накоплению (зд. – дней отпуска); leave of absence – отпуск по собственному желанию (разрешае-

мый по определенным причинам), обычно неоплачиваемый; personal day – отгул;

to be subject to (зд.) – регулироваться, быть в соответствии с; extend – распространяться;

spouse – супруг, супруга;

to attend to – заниматься, уделять внимание; impose – налагать, (зд.) устанавливать;

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succession – последовательность; allotment – доля, часть;

employee handbook – руководство сотрудника.

Ex. 1. Find in the text English equivalents to the following words and phrases:

устанавливать систему льгот; финансовая ситуация; государственное регулирование; повышенная сложность; множество законодательных документов; план медицинского страхования; варианты пенсионных отчислений; действенные программы предоставления льгот; удерживать самых талантливых; многообразие форм; узкоспециализированные предложения; множественный выбор; возмещение затрат на обучение; детские дошкольные заведения; помощь в уходе за пожилыми людьми; членство в спортивном клубе; идеология бизнеса; налоги на фонд заработной платы; получить травму, увечье; независимо от; выплаты по утрате трудоспособности; две противоречивые цели; размер части страховой суммы, не оплачиваемой страховой компанией; платеж пациента; период трудоспособности; значительная часть; гибкий и подлежащий переводу (из одной компании в другую) пенсионный план; субсидии (денежное возмещение); покрывать расходы; принимать что-то как должное; отгул; принципы предоставления отпуска; принципы накопления отпускных дней; накапливать отпускное время; основные исключения; военная обязанность; не подлежит регулированию государственным и местным законодательством; основные исключения; виды отпуска, регулируемые...; принципы предоставления дней, пропущенных по болезни; краткосрочные планы возмещения нетрудоспособности; доля дней, пропущенных по болезни; одна из главных целей; программа ознакомления; краткое описание; руководство сотрудника.

Ex. 2. Write down Russian equivalents for the following words and phrases:

administer benefits; financial realities; government regulation; increased complexity; wide range of laws, healthcare plan; retirement plan options; effective benefits programs; retain top talent; multitude of forms; highly specialized offerings; multiple-option; tuition reimbursement; child care; eldercare assistance; health club memberships; busi-

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ness philosophy; payroll taxes; suffer injuries; regardless of; disability payments; two contradictory objectives; amount of deductible; copayment; working life; significant portion; flexible and portable pension plan; subsidies; to cover the cost; take smth for granted; personal days; vacation policy; vacation accrual policy; to bank vacation time; key exceptions; military obligations; are not subject to federal and local law; chief exception; leaves, that are covered by; sick leave policies; short term disability plans; allotment of sick days; one of the main priorities; orientation program; brief description; employee handbook.

Ex. 3. Answer the questions, based on the text.

1.Why is it very different to manage the HR function today than it was twenty years ago?

2.What opportunity is hidden in the complexity of the benefits side of HR functions?

3.What determines which benefits you offer?

4.What are the basics that you can find in every benefits package?

5.What are the examples of highly specialized offerings?

6.Say a few words about:

a.social security and Medicare

b.Unemployment insurance

c.Worker’s compensation

7.What is the most expensive employee benefit?

8.What factors should you take into account deciding on the health insurance plan?

9.What are the three factors insurers take into account when they price the cost of healthcare plan?

10.How have structure and management of retirement plans changed during recent years?

11.What are the ways companies provide family assistance?

12.What categories does the term «Time off» include?

13.How do vacation accrual policies differ from one company to another?

14.Are the policies regarding leaves of absence subject to federal and local law?

15.What are the reasons to take a leave of absence?

16.What do sick leave policies regulate?

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Ex. 4. What do you think the main idea of the text is?

1.Today’s diverse workforce has diverse needs. If your company has a competitive benefits package it will strengthen your company’s ability to attract and retain top talent.

2.Managing the benefits side of the HR function today is very different from the way it was twenty years ago.

3.Retirement plans became much more flexible and portable in re-

sponse to the dynamic new business culture.

Ex. 5. Prepare to present a summary of the text.

1.Make a plan of the text.

2.Write down phrases and expressions you will be using when talking about each part.

3.Present a summary.

Ex. 6. Translate into English.

1.Устанавливая систему льгот, необходимо учитывать множество законодательных документов, варианты планов медицинского страхования и пенсионных отчислений.

2.Разработав действенные программы предоставления льгот, вы сможетепривлечь и удержать наиболееталантливыхсотрудников.

3.Отчисления в фонд социального страхования и страхование от несчастного случая на работе – это базовые виды льгот, которые предоставляют все компании.

4.Медицинское страхование – это самая дорогостоящая льгота на сегодняшний день.

5.При принятии решения о выборе плана медицинского страхования необходимо обратить внимание на объем страхового покрытия, качество предоставляемых услуг и стоимость.

6.Рассчитывая стоимость медицинского страхования, страховщики принимают во внимание два фактора: количество застрахованных лиц и демографические показатели (средний возраст, число детей). Помимо этого, они учитывают часть страховой суммы, которую не оплачивает страховая компания и часть платежа за медицинские услуги, которую оплачивают застрахованные лица.

7.В прошлом сотрудники работали большую часть своей трудоспособной жизни в одной и той же компании.

8.Сейчас планы пенсионных отчислений стали более гибкими

имогут быть переведены из одной компании в другую.

9.Предоставление сотрудникам оплачиваемых выходных дней многие принимают как должное. Однако это серьезная льгота.

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