I don’t think there will be a lot of interest in this, but there have been a few threads lately about company-sponsored health plans (cost sharing, smoker discounts, etc) and occasionally related benefits (short term disability, FMLA). We’re coming to the season when most companies open enrollment for 2011 benefits so I thought I’d throw this out there.
Qualifications: I have a manager position in the Benefits department of a large (Fortune 200) public company. My main responsibility right now is absence management (vacation/pto/FMLA/disability and other leaves) but I am somewhat involved with our health and welfare programs also. In my career I’ve also been involved in pension and 401(k) administration but have been out of it for a while, so I’m not much of an expert there anymore.
How much does the quality of benefits - health in particular - depend on company size and how much on how the company is willing to pay? My pretty big company got swallowed up by an even bigger company. The new company is cheap and obnoxious in many ways, but the health benefits are significantly better at no additional cost to me.
Interesting thread, **Skammer **- I’ll be following it…
(I think you know this, but the head of HR at my company reports to me and I led the effort to lay out our Benefits Management strategic plan…I have ended up know more about this stuff than I ever thought I would!)
A lot of it depends on the company’s philosophy and industry.
The industry matters because skill workers are going to demand better benefits than unskilled workers. For example, my two previous companies were an HR consulting firm and a Big 4 accounting firm – both had incredible health benefits. My current company is in retail, so the benefits are not as generous because they don’t have to be.
Size is important because bigger companies have more influence over insurance carriers than smaller companies, and it also spreads risk. A company of 50,000 employees is a lot more attractive to an insurance carrier than a company of 500, all things being equal. We can get some concessions from our vendors because we are often their biggest or one of their biggest clients.
The company’s philosophy matters too though. Some companies might want to be known as an “employer of choice” and try to offer benefits that are always slightly better than their competitors. Other will try to provide benefits at as low a cost as possible while remaining competitive enough in the market. That really depends on the vision of the top executives (like Wordman!).