Chapter 13

Family and Medical Leave Act

I've heard of the FMLA, but never really had a clear understanding. First off, I never knew that you were entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, and that time is not required to be consecutive. The FMLA act suggests that a majority of those opting for this benefit fail to take the full 12 weeks.

Although the company is not required to pay an employee that is out on FMLA, can an employee still be paid through a paid time off account? Also, what if your company offers an Extended Leave Benefit bank of hours? Can an employee choose to use these two pools of available hours during the FMLA leave?

If a woman has a child employers would have to comply with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, but then would her spouse be entitled to take advantage of FMLA to take care of his wife and perhaps maybe even their other children?

Reflections from 3/4/10 class

Commission pay offers a bonus based on a percentage of sales. Some companies will offer their employees a commission on top of their salaries. Straight commission plans offer pay based only on sales. This plan would require an extremely committed and driven employee because their pay is based on their efforts. Some straight commissioned employees also must be good at self supervision. These employees can lose track and focus on the close and not the customer. When this happens, it can lead to unethical scenarios.

Chapter 12

The term incentive pay has a positive connotation to it, but I view it as vague and open to interpretation. The interpretation that it allows is the interpretation of your work performance. Incentive pay is tied to an individuals performance. There are various ways that the performance is measured, it can be measured through profits or earnings, or it can be measured through reviews and evaluations.

What if the standards for incentive pay are not equal?

I have worked in environments where various managers will conduct performance reviews on their perspective employees. I have seen a rating process that is not clearly defined and therefore employees from different shifts are rated with different interpretations and therefor there are fluctuating scores among staff within same positions. Some average employees from one shift will receive similar scores to high achievers on another shift.

When the incentive is a pay increase and this is the standard for the pay increase, then where is the incentive?

I know that there are some companies out there that reward their employees with an incentive laden contract, and when it is practiced effectively I think it maximizes an employees potential. I think by creating a contract laden with incentives, it lays out a framework that motivates an employee to strive for excellence and it rewards the employees in their progression.

Reflections from class 3/2/2010

Today we met in the library and received instruction on more effective search methods for research papers. I left the library extremely frustrated. I was frustrated because this paper is the last research paper I will have to do. I graduate this April, and I have been doing research papers since I've enrolled and this was the first time that I received this instruction. I wish so much that I would have known about these research tools a few years ago. Maybe it's just my bad luck that I missed out on this instruction, but for whatever reasons, it never made it to me. I'm not saying that I'm excited about my research paper, but I''m not as apprehensive.

Chapter 11

Pay differential applies to an extra or incentive pay to compensate for more difficult working conditions or to adjust to pay toward locations with high living expenses.
It is required by law for a company to maintain a soldiers position if they are called to duty.
What if these two things combine. There are several companies that will make up the employee/soldier's income with a differential. If the job salary is greater than their military salary, then the company will make up the difference. Some companies will go so far as to continue the full pay as well as continue the full coverage of benefits.
Although this is a very noble act, it can also prove to be very costly. In essence, the organization is paying a salary without the work. What if temporary help is needed? This would turn out to be even more costly.
Can there be a sense of discrimination between higher and lower positions? What if an employees position makes less as a civilian than in the military? If differential is used, then what benefits is he affored to?

Chapter 10

Separating and Retaining Employees

In this chapter, there was one main element that stood out to me. There was a concept that stated that organizations should develop a standardized form of discipline and that these decisions should not be left up to just managers and supervisors. I liked this concept because I've worked in places where the company morale was damaged by a lack of consistency involving disciplinary action. There were employees that were disciplined that were so contrastingly different for similar actions that it caused a clear sense of confusion concerning policy.

Should someone expect clear cut consequences for specific actions? If so, how can management derail employee gossip without violating the privacy of the employee disciplined?

Sometimes there is a double edged sword. What employees discuss and what managers handle are usually completely different. A disciplined employee that doesn't want the truth to be known may in fact embellish a story to create a belief of innocence amongst coworkers, but management has to respect the employees privacy and might have a hard time defending openly what the employee alleges.

Chapter 9

This was actually the basis of the interviews that I did for my paper. Employee development has always interested me because it demonstrates an investment in the employee. When a corporation is willing to dedicate funds and efforts into improving their staff it proves to me a direction that the company is headed in.

What are some of the differences between companies that focus on employee development and companies that don't? Are turnover rates related to employee development?

I think that employee development is connected to employee satisfaction. I also believe that employee satisfaction is a leading factor in turnover rates. If a company demonstrates to an employee that they want to carry in them into the future, chances are that loyalty will be returned.