2. The Deferred Distribution Plan - this program establishes a trust fun provide employees with future payment. The distribution of promtsis withflo until the employees' retiremer ment. death or disability. 3. The Purchase Plan - Under this plan, participating employees are pert to purchase often through payroll deductions, shares of company stock, of" or less than the prevailing market price or at par value. The scope and nature of benefits are so varied as enumerated above but benefits can be further classified into four major categories: 1. Economical and financial benefits 2. Recreational, social and athletic services 3. Health and medical services 4. Professional services The benefits derived from these company services are immeasurable, since they are intangible. Nevertheless, their value cannot be underestimated as they contribute greatly in making the company a good place to spend the best years of the employer productive life. Managing Benefits: Planning and Administration Managing a fringe benefits program is an administrative and a financial problem to. the employer. This needs to be handled very carefully as this may mean sour relations between management and the employees. Careful planning of the benefit programs could develop healthy administrative relations between the workers and management It should be both beneficial to the employer and the employee as well. It should be wisely managed by a competent staff that knows the feeling of the employees and understand management benefits program philosophy. Before any benefit program can be implemented, the management must look into the working conditions, hours of work, salaries and wages. The basic necessities of the labor force must be met first before any benefit program is to be implemented. Employees will only appreciate benefits if the basic requirements of wages and working conditions are met by the management. Benefits must be operated with minimum financial expenditures as workers may see it as a ploy of management in place of higher wages. Wages are still the basic intrinsic factors that drive the employees to be productive and efficient in the performance of their task. Benefits are additional perks of management and their effects are only appreciated at the time they enjoy the program, therefore they are considered as extrinsic motivators. Strategic Benefit Implementation Management has to analyze the benefit payoff of any benefits management program. Employees expect management to provide them benefits but, on the other hand, job performance remains the same. Benevolent management on the other hand 148 ............................. .............. . .........."nd to hheld spects employees to contribute to the companys' productivity and profitability and i end game should be of mutual benefits to both the employer and the employees. since benefits are expenses and the results are not usually immediately appreciated, a hitted strategic management in its implementation must be considered. either Benefit Survey and Benchmarking - Benefits should be within the level of the industry in the community and those of the competitors in business as any added such cost should affect product-pricing strategy. Cost information is necessary as product competition affects company sales strategy and programs. This could also be related to employees' turnover rate. When benefits are not properly benchmarked with the same or similar firms, then the percentage of employee turnover may affect production. Some information may be available from the Bureau of Statistics Office under the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Labor and Employment. With information at hand, management needs to evaluate first the probable payoff of any benefit program. This evaluation ney needs to focus and recognize that the employees have come to expect certain things ute from the employers. The employees must feel that the employer is committed to es' their welfare, so that they will also be committed to the objectives of the company. There is much room in evaluating benefits decisions. Benefits are tax-exempt and tax deductible from their operating profits. The company must find the right formula on what financial and non-financial incentives to give the employees before any added benefits is to be implemented. Anything given by the right hand cannot be taken back by the left hand. 2. Cost Control Strategy -In thinking about cost control strategy, several factors can be successful. It is assumed that the larger the cost of benefits category, the greater the opportunity for savings. We must also consider the growth trajectory of the benefit category as its cost impact may run out of control in the future. Cost containment effort can only work to the extent that the employer has significant discretion and control in choosing how much they spend in the benefit category. Statutory cost varies as government policies change over time and this is beyond control by management, and therefore a tie-up study must be taken into course. 3. Staffing Cost Strategy - employers may change staffing practices to control benefit costs. Benefit costs, are fixed and spent per employee. The company may require the employees to work more hours and pay overtime premiums. The overtime premium should be computed against expenses for employees' benefits. If the resultant factors are more than savings without sacrificing production performance, then such plan could be implemented. This condition will also be favorable to the employees as it will increase their home pay, which is more important especially for heads of the family. The hiring of contractual or temporary employees will greatly reduce cost on benefits. Usually the regular employees enjoy company benefits. The personnel roster should be studied very carefully; the workload must be properly distributed and should maintain only the regular work force performing regular functions. This is the primary reason why most companies resort to such personnel arrangements. ......... 149 t........Job contractors may be employed as production activities that could be dep outside the plant operation Outside of benefit cost reductions, other experts could be avoided. While jobbers may gain profits for their operations, the compel on the other hand will be absorbed in the administration and payment of addition benefits Nevertheless cost benefit analysis should also b also be considered along this line in termsis of company productivity and quality index. 4. The Demographic Composition Cost Strategy The employer must also consider the demographic factors such as age, sex and Mattis of their work force. The benefits must be designed along thee demography need of the human resources to be more rela to relevant and appreciated. Yourgay workers would prefer higher wages and more overtime work to augment the take home pay to pay their needs and other comforts. Married women will need more disability benefits and childcare protection than single women will Of work force will need more retirement programs and pension plans. Planning sup a benefit program could be ticklish issues as human resource compositions ate varied in any company organization. Careful study must be conducted along the line through a research program to assess employees' preferences; in the same way the consumers demand for products and services are analyzed. Care must taken not to raise employees' expectations regarding future changes benefits. 5. Organization of Employees Cooperatives Organizations of employee associations' cooperatives will greatly help unburden management of employees' loans and cash advances. This will also help employees save part of their income and generate dividends as added incentives Credit unions are developed as self-help organizations to help solve some of their personal financial problems through loans at very minimal interest plus incentive refunds. Credit cooperatives can also have consumer merchandise and groceries for the employees' household needs at prices below regular market cost and may be paid through payroll deductions. The organization of these associations should be encouraged and supported by management. Some companies provide seed fund to start the program and make monthly deductions based on the employees approval on how much capital investment they will put into the association. Capital investment plus interest can be withdrawn when the employee retires or is separated from the company. 6. Communicating Benefits to Employees Any strategic implementation of any program cannot take root on employees' morale without their understanding fully the concepts and program of management in the granting of such benevolent gestures for their welfare. Benefits Be are investments in the greater job satisfaction and increased commitment for better performance on the job. wh Research findings have shown that employees' job satisfaction and performance show very little correction between company benefits programs. Many employees to ev 150 think that it is mandatory for a company to grant those 15 days sick leave and IM................................. es pre