Employee Benefits Case Study

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I’ve chosen the topic of employee benefits and the varying considerations given to benefits around the globe. What are the issues to be considered? What about the MNE employee? The content of this paper is a condensation (compacted by >70%) of current knowledge regarding the administration of employee benefits as published by McGraw-Hill 2011 in “The Handbook of Employee Benefits: Health and Group Benefits, 7th Edition. Jerry S. Rosenbloom, editor”. This is the reference textbook for the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans (IFEBP), and Wharton (University of Pennsylvania), for those looking to certify as “Certified Employee Benefits Specialists” (CEBS). The arguments in favor of employer sponsored benefits around the world …show more content…

In these countries, the amounts can be significant and are an important factor in supplemental plan design. As an example, in some Latin American countries, the statutory severance benefit can be as high as two months’ pay times years of service, where the definition of pay includes all components of compensation, including benefits in kind such as company cars, ancillary benefits, nonaccountable cash payments and expense accounts (representation allowances), and the like. For some positions, particularly in those countries where there is a confiscatory tax environment, the value of the benefits in kind can exceed 50 percent of base …show more content…

In some, most of the workforce may not be unionized, and those workers that are generally are concentrated in small, loosely organized local unions. In others, most of the country may belong to one union or another, as in Belgium, where more than 80 percent of the workforce is unionized—including white-collar or management employees. Unions may operate at the local or national level. Economic conditions: Economic conditions can be an influencing factor in the design of international benefit plans and can have a significant impact on plan costs. However, rarely will they dictate the final plan design. The more important factors are inflation and interest rates, but exchange-rate manipulation or currency controls can also have an impact—particularly in countries with high inflation. Normally, currencies appreciate or depreciate in line with inflation, but some countries (e.g., Mexico and Brazil) have previously manipulated exchange rates to further other economic goals. Local Benefit Plan Design: Local benefits should be determined for each country within the framework of the global policy, but this is not always possible. The employer must try to balance corporate policy against the local realities, which include the

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