Essay on paid time off and sick leave benefits

According to an Overview of Employee Benefits Offerings in the U. S. (2013), “ Paid time off plans, which combine traditional vacation time, sick leave and personal days into one comprehensive plan, continue to gain in popularity”. Therefore, HR management of companies and organizations are to take decisions upon policies and programs according to which they will pay their employees.
“ Companies must decide whether to set up a single vacation policy for all employees or separate ones for different employee groups” (Martocchio, 2009). Moreover, the key choice companies have to make is whether to pay their employees based on their performance or of employees’ time served with the company. Taking into consideration that sick leave plans and paid time off are beneficial for employees, but may be “ disruptive and financially threatening to employers”, companies must take any decisions regarding benefits and compensations carefully and thoughtfully (Martocchio, 2009).
I personally believe that vacation and sick leave benefits and compensation have to be based on seniority with the organization but not on performance for several reasons. In the first place, it should be noted, “ For employees, compensation signifies not so much how they are paid, but how they are valued” (Fogleman & McCorkle, 2009). As a result, if an executive-level employee, such as a senior manager or a department head who has worked with the company for 20 years and put his heart into the company and its development, is rewarded less than a trainee is, he/she is likely to feel underappreciated and might even think about leaving his position in the company. Secondly, I think that some of the newcomers might show excellent performance for a short period just to receive special bonuses and benefits. However, as soon as that new employee returns from his/her vacation, his/her professional performance and achievements are likely to be much lower than before the vacation. Overall, rewarding employees based on their seniority with the organization seems much more reasonable than offering them benefits based on their short-term performance.

Works Cited

Leave Benefits. (2013). In 2013 employee benefits: an overview of employee benefits offerings in the U. S. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.
Fogleman, S., & McCorkle, D. (2009). Human resource management: Employee compensation guide. College Station, Tex.: Texas Agricultural Extension Service, Texas A & M University System.
Martocchio, J. (2009). Paid Time-Off and Flexible Work. In Employee benefits a primer for human resource professionals (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.