Library Knows Business: Formula for earning wages no longer simple

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A fair day's wage for a fair day's labor. This was the very simple formula for compensation since the beginning of the industrial age. |ret||ret||tab|

Now, at the turn of the millennium, the formula has gotten a little more complicated. What was once simply a fair wage is now a compensation plan, which includes things such as stock options, signing bonuses, profit sharing, benefit packages and pension plans. The payroll office of yesteryear has become a human resources department full of consultants, managers and employee-employer liaison officers.|ret||ret||tab|

To help simplify the complicated compensation picture, I've picked a few pertinent books and Web sites to help you understand the wage game.|ret||ret||tab|

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Books at the library|ret||ret||tab|

Payroll often is the largest item in a company's balance sheet. |ret||ret||tab|

Anyone with a hand in implementing, restructuring or upgrading a company's compensation plan will welcome the practical ideas and examples that can be found in "Pay for Results," call number 658.322 J. |ret||ret||tab|

The author, Karen Jorgensen, is a management consultant and academic whose varied background in compensation issues spans companies from entertainment to manufacturing. Her real-life case studies show which plans work, which don't, and why. |ret||ret||tab|

She explains incentive bonuses, noncash incentives, wage surveys, performance-based pay and profit sharing.|ret||ret||tab|

Presenting guidelines and a detailed plan of action, "Building a Fair Pay Program," 658.322 P, can be adapted to the individual needs of diverse companies. The process involves nine phases, beginning with knowing the unique aims and issues of a particular organization and ending with maintaining the pay program, once it is up and running. Intermediate phases include obtaining commitment-to-pay strategies, performing job analysis, evaluating job contributions and building the pay structure. The book is detailed but easy to understand, owing to the logical progression of its steps and ideas. It should prove equally useful to a company that has been in existence for many years or a company just starting out.|ret||ret||tab|

The fifth edition of "Employee Benefits," 658.325 B, by Bur-ton T. Beam Jr. and John J. McFadden, proves its continued HR value. Few fields have changed as dramatically as that of employee benefits since this title's first edition in 1985. |ret||ret||tab|

Employers are spending an ever-increasing portion of total compensation dollars on benefit plans. A notable portion of this increase arises because the cost of certain benefits, such as medical coverage, has risen at a faster rate than wages. |ret||ret||tab|

Legislation and federal tax treatment have also had a particularly significant impact on benefit plans. The authors address all these cutting-edge issues in informed detail.|ret||ret||tab|

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Pertinent Web sites|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|www.ebri.org/ Established in 1978, the Employee Benefit Research Institute is the only nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed exclusively to data dissemination, policy research and education on this subject. EBRI's mission is to advance public, media and policymaker awareness of the importance of employee benefits to our nation's economy. Its bylaws state: "In all its activities, EBRI shall function strictly in an objective and unbiased manner and not as an advocate or opponent of any position." They realize that as the design of benefit plans becomes continually more complex, the need for data and analysis is greater than ever. Among the useful freebies on their site are results from their Year 2000 Health Confidence Survey.|bold_on||bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|www.ifebp.org/knowledge/resurvey.asp The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans gives you access to many of their surveys, which examine the latest trends and issues. Among the subjects dealt with are educational benefits, employer-sponsored drug benefits, substance abuse services, alternative medicine and long-term care insurance. Use this page's "Knowledge Center" link to access its list of Hot Topics executive summaries on such hot-button issues as retiree health benefits, family medical leave, 401(k)s and dental and vision benefits.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|www.benefitslink.com/buzz/new.shtml|bold_on|www.benefitslink.com/topics.shtml BenefitsLink scans the Web for you to find useful articles on benefit plan compliance, which are then presented by date or by topic. You'll need to limit yourself there are 50 topics, each with numerous articles! Some of these topics are court cases, domestic partners, cafeteria plans, social investing, managed care and employee stock ownership programs.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|(Mike DePue is the business librarian at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell. For almost 20 years he has answered thousands of questions on as many topics.)[[In-content Ad]]