Business, Benefits — Best Of Everything Transshipment

25 August, 2008 (21:17) | Business | By: admin

Benefits are an important part of any job. Benefits take many forms,
from time off for illness and vacation, to cash bonuses for exceptional
performance. Most companies need to offer an attractive benefit package
to recruit and retain dedicated, qualified employees and help their
business grow. The benefits each firm is able to offer will vary with
their financial condition and goals, but standard benefits typically
include sick time, vacation time and some sort of health or dental
benefits. In addition to these standard benefits, many companies help
their employees save for their retirement by offering a 401(k), or if
the employer is in the public sector, a 403(b) plans. These types of
benefits are largely replacing a benefit which is very rarely offered
anymore - the defined benefit pension plan. This type of lifetime
pension program used to be standard in the business world, but several
events have conspired to virtually eliminate this popular benefit.
First, while in the past most people could count on working for the
same employer for 20 or even 30 years or more, today most workers will
work for several different employers during those 2 or 3 decades. In
today’s fast changing world, it is not unusual for a worker to go
through several career changes as well. At the same time, employers who
had offered generous pension plans in the past are often struggling
under the weight of those plans and finding themselves unable to
compete with younger companies whose pension benefits were not so
generous. What this means to the average worker bee is that each
employee will need to save for his or her own retirement instead of
relying on the company to do it for them. This is what makes a 401(k)
or 403(b) plan such an attractive benefit. The company will often match
a percentage of contributions made by the employee. This is essentially
free money and will help your nest egg grow much more quickly. It is
generally a good idea to take advantage of these types of benefits as
much as possible. Another monetary benefit offered by some companies is
the ability to buy stock in that company, often below the asking price
and without brokerage commissions. Such employee stock purchase plans,
or ESPP’s for short, can be an excellent investment if the company is
in solid fninancial condition. Of course as with any stock purchase,
the stock of your employer can fall as well as rise, and it is possible
to lose money as well as gain. Take an objective look at your employer
and ask yourself if you would buy their stock even if you did not work
for them. If the answer to that question is yes, you may want to
participate in the employee stock purchase plan. A related benefit is
the granting of stock options to employees. While generally reserved
for executive and management staff, there are some companies that make
annual stock option grants to all employees. A stock option allows an
individual to buy a predetermined number of shares of company stock at
a set price. If the price rises about this so-called “strike price”,
the worker can realize a gain by exercising those stock options. These
stock option benefits are somewhat unusual in the business world, but
if you employer offers them, they are worth checking into. Of course,
non-monetary benefits can be very important as well. In the high
pressure business world workers find themselves in today, having time
off to vacation and relax is very important. The amount of vacation
time granted will vary from employer to employer, but the amount of
time off granted typically increases with length of service. Just as
important as vacation time is sick time. No good employer wants you at
work when you are ill, so it is important that employees are granted
adequate time off for when they or their family members are not feeling
well. This is typically a standard benefit for most companies, but the
amount of sick time granted will vary from employer to employer. There
is no doubt that next to salary, benefits are the most important thing
considered by potential employees as they look for a job. A good
package of benefits can easily tip the scale between two competing job
offers. It is important to offer good benefits to retain your talented
employees and to attract them in the first place. My name is Keith
Davies i am the owner of http://www.searchforcredit.co.uk