Employee Compensation and Benefits Package for Secretarial Positions
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June 15, 2014
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Employee Compensation and Benefits Package for Secretarial Positions
The purpose of an effective employee compensation and benefits package is to attract, retain and motivate employees, and this is done by making sure the package is competitive and developed with the employee in mind (Ludlow & Farrell, 2010). Compensation and benefits packages or Total Rewards packages need to be based on things like the educational, experience level, performance expectations of the position in question. This narrative will outline a Total Rewards package for a secretary or, as the BLS (2014) identifies them, administrative professional position in the Human Resources Department. The package will be based on competitive salaries in the industry, educational qualifications needed for the individual to succeed in the position, experience level required, and the overall performance that the position is required to adhere to in order to be successful,
Industry Selection
Employee total rewards packages differ between industries. For instance, how an administrative professional is compensated in the finance industry, differs widely from an administrative professional’s compensation within the nonprofit sector (BLS, 2014). The industry selected for this paper is the Administrative Management Services Industry, specializing in Human Resource Management consulting and outsourcing to small and mid-size businesses. According to the BLS (2014) Administrative Management Services, which is cataloged as a Professional service industry, employed 14 percent of their industries administrative professionals, with an average salary of $35,000.
The secretary/administrative professional position for the HR department in this narrative, requires an individual with at least five years of experience in a human resources environment and a minimum education level of a Bachelor’s degree.
Compensation and benefits package
Direct and Indirect Compensation. The secretary position for the HR department will include a compensation and benefits package that includes both direct and indirect compensation. Direct compensation is thought to be one of the best predictors of job satisfaction (Taras, 2012). A recent survey confirms that “…rising inflation and increasing cost of living has led employees to re-evaluate priorities on how they are compensated at work” (Employees prefer higher..., 2014, para. 2), leaving more employees to prefer higher take home pay than other forms of indirect compensation. Direct compensation includes salary and wages as well as vacation and sick time.
Indirect compensation includes health benefits, company privileges, occupational development, and other non-monetary benefits (Taras, 2012). In addition to a competitive hourly wage, the secretary position will include direct compensation in the form of a Paid-Time-Off (PTO) benefit, consisting of 15 days that the employee will receive upon hire. PTO includes vacation and sick time. The position will also include opportunities for approved overtime.
Health Benefits. A 2012 study into what attracts and motivates job candidates, researchers found that health care accessibility, whether it is 100% employer paid and universally available or if the employees themselves are required to chip in based on their salary, was key when it came to the employee accepting job offers (Andersen, Erikksson, Kristensen, & Holm Pedersen, 2012). The benefits package for the administrative professional position will include employer paid healthcare based on employee’s salary. A Point of Service (POS) plan will be accessible allowing the employee to choose a primary care physician who can make in and out-of-network referrals (Andersen, et al., 2012).
Retirement Savings Plan. While American