Pension Plan Essays (Examples)

By operating separate trusts for certain benefits, companies operating under GAAP can often greatly reduce their pension liability (Kossov 2010). Pension funds must then be sued only for the payment of retirement benefits (and the earning of interest), then, rather than being combined with other benefit programs funded or operated by the company as they often are now (Kossov 2010).

It is in the area of pension assets, however, that the greatest complexities and disagreements can be found in the current era. Pension assets are used to earn interest for future pension disbursements as well as to pay out current pension disbursements owed, and because a large part of the job is to grow the wealth pool that exists as quickly yet as safely as is possible, companies have long reported pension assets and expected returns on those assets as earnings, adjusting historical statements as real data becomes available but…

Pension Plans of Coca Cola Co. Vs. Pepsi Inc.

Compare the pension plans of Coca Cola and Pepsi, noting what type of pension, and funded status as of 2007 end of year.

A) Coca Cola Co.

This is a Defined Contribution Plan.

For its primary plan the employer matches 100% of participants contribution, up to 3% of compensation.

Benefit obligation at end of year for 2007 was $3,517 million.

Benefits paid for pensions plan were $41 million, in payments related to unfunded pension plan paid from Coca Cola Co. assets.

Defined Contribution Plan is composed of:

Employer contribution-is determined by plan

isk is borne by the employees

Benefits are based on plan value

B) Pepsi Inc.

This is a Defined Benefit Plan.

It is determined by the interest rate that is used to determine the present value of liabilities, and is the discount rate

For 2007, the Expense Discount ate…

Pension Liability, Costs, Recognition, and Future Developments

In measuring the liability of pension plan, it requires discounting a stream of promised future benefits to the present. The plans that relate to the public sector the discount rate used in the calculation is subject to considerable debate. Plans for state and locals follow the general actuarial model and hence, liabilities are discounted by the yield of long-term assets held in the pension fund, which is roughly eight percent. For most economists, they contend the discount rate and say that it should reflect the risk associated with the liabilities, given the benefits are guaranteed under most state laws, the most appropriate factor of discount is a rate that is riskless, roughly 5%. Therefore, the model exhibited by the economists would produce much higher liabilities than those reported on books of localities and states. The debate is intensified and fueled by the assumption…

Pension Plan Being Qualified

What are the permitted pension benefit plans?

What is the problem?

What is the solution?

The end result

The paper shall first inform that when any individual chooses a pension plan he should try to choose a plan that is qualified as the growth in value of the investments inside the plan are not taxable till the amounts are distributed to the investor, the contributions made by an employer to the plan are also deducted from tax within limits, and the permitted contributions by the employees are also not taxable till they have been given to the employee. We shall next look at the two main types of plans are called cash balance plans and 401(k) plans. Among the two, cash balance plans are supposed to have definite benefits at the end of a certain number of years, and 401(k) plans require the contributor to make…

Retirement Options
403B
A 403b is delineated as a tax-deferment retirement plan. Basically, it permits an individual to set aside pre-tax dollars from the employee’s paycheck to save for retirement. The employee will be able to save up to $16,500 every year and depending on the career advancement, the limit might become higher.
401K
A 401(k) is basically a retirement savings plan for the employee that is sponsored by the employer. It permits the employee to save and invest a portion of their paycheck prior to taxes being deducted. Basically, taxes are not remitted until the amount is withdrawn from the account. With this particular retirement plan option, the employee is able to control the manner in which his or her money is investment. A majority of the plans offer the employee a spread of mutual funds comprising of stocks, bonds as well as money market investments. In spite of…

Pensions Fund

Pension Fund Analysis

The school was founded in 1839 and is Missouri's largest research university offering more than 280 degree programs (Mizzou, N.d.). The school is also the largest employer in the area with more than thirteen thousand full-time employees. The Retirement Trust and the Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust hold the assets of the Retirement Plan and the OPEB Plan. The university is require to fully comply with the GASB reporting requirements and the Trusts are managed by external firms that are restricted to investing in certain asset sectors.

The externally-managed Trust funds are allowed to invest in asset sectors such as U.S. And international equity, emerging markets debt and equity, absolute return strategies, private equity, real estate, global fixed income, high yield fixed income, bank loans, and Treasury inflation protected securities (University of Missouri, 2011). This fund represents the pension and OPEB benefits for a wide…

Moreover, there are less children being born than in previous generations. This creates a situation where the current and future workforce will be unable to support the growing aging population. Current statistics show that there is far below the average of 2.1 children per household, which would be considered the replacement rate (Jackson & Howe 2008). For almost the entire 20th century, nations all over the world saw continuous population growths, with more being people being born than dying. Yet, today, this population growth has declined in a number of major regions, including many European nations. This then means that there will be fewer individuals in the younger workforce that should be helping support the elderly population by adding in funds to pension plans. Current structures are under the pay-as-you-go plan, where today's workers pay for today's retirees in hopes that future workers will do the same for them (Slater…

Pension Terminology Definitions & Discussion

The author is asked to define a number of terms relative to pension accounting and its associated terminology and definitions. The terms the author asked to define, in order, are service cost, interest cost, actual return on planned assets, amortization of unrecognized gains/losses and amortization of the transition amount.

Service cost is the present value, from an actuarial standpoint, of the projected benefits that can be associated with an employees' tenure at a pension-using employer during the current year. This is very similar to normal cost. Interest cost is the increase in projected benefit obligation (PBO) associated with the lapse of time as the year goes on. Generally speaking, the interest cost is gained by multiplying the discount rate by the PBO applicable at the beginning of the year.

Actual return on plan assets is what it sounds like. It is the "actual" results that…

Pension Schemes

Benefits of Pension Schemes

An overview of the UK Pension system

The weaknesses in the UK pension system

The UK has been indicated by Aviva (2011) to be facing a significant change in population with a large number of the older citizens approaching their retirement. The current retirement market is in a downward spiral with its trend of failing today's generation of UK retirees. The trend has been predicted to be on the rise and is noted to have potentially devastating consequences for the retiree's income as well as the general security of the future generation of baby boomers/retirees. In order to illustrate the intensity of the problem, it is worth noting that 385,00 individuals bought annuities last year alone (2010) and the figures indicated that only about 32% of the clients bough annuities from firms that are different to the ones that they saved with. In this…

Pension Plan eplacement ates

Public Pension eplacement ates

The portion of monthly pre-retirement income that will be replaced by monthly pension plan funds is called the pension plan replacement rate (Quadagno, 2011). In the United States, the majority of pre-retirement income replacement comes from Social Security payments (Quadagno, 2011). The actual replacement rate for wage earners with lower incomes is higher than for those who have had higher wages during their working years (Quadagno, 2011). But overall, wealthier recipients of Social Security payments still achieve higher income replacement (Quadagno, 2011). "By 2030, a worker who retires at age 62 will receive only 70% of the whole retirement benefit, and workers who want to receive the maximum benefit will have to wait until they reach age 67" (Quadagno, 2011, p. 10). How does this compare with the situation in other countries? Comparing prior earning replacement rates for Greece and the United…

Function of a benefit plan and a pension plan is to provide income for an individual after he or she retires from work. There are plans that provide more benefits than mere pension and these are called benefit plans. There are for example the vested termination benefits, disability benefits, and they can be defined plans or defined benefits based on the type of the plan that is being chosen. The defined contribution plan defines the method and type of benefit that accrues to the employee over the years. (Winklevoss, 1993) In other words it has a defined amount or quantity that may be fixed. Benefits on the other hand are extra given to a person opting for a plan. The benefit plans are protected by federal insurance of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation -- PBGC.

Define the purpose and function of a contribution plan

The contribution plan is not based…

Qualified Benefit Plans

Why company set qualify benefit plans tax benefits company employees maintaining qualify plans. Also, company comply benefit laws regulations order maintain qualify status plan.

Employers sometimes offer their employees and other beneficiaries within the organization retirement plans which they sponsor. These are often referred to as qualified plans. These qualified plans are either established as defined benefit plans or defined contribution plans. When established as defined benefit plans, the employee receives benefits on a formula that factors in personal factors such as the employee's salary history and the duration of contract or employment. In these plans, the risk of investment and management of the portfolio is run by the employer. In these schemes, the employer sometimes has to find funds from alternative sources such as the company's profits in order to fund employee's retirement when there is a shortfall in funding. The other type of qualified plans…

UK Pensions Policy" - Social Policy Area

The pension policy of the UK is one that is followed as a model by various other parts of the world for its efficient dealing with the problem of pensions for the aged of the UK. The government takes a ken interest in reforms in the area of pensions, and it was for this reason that it announced the latest set of reforms in the year 2000, in its 'pre-budget report' that was released in the month of November of the same year. The report contained a series of reforms and improvements for pensioners. Some of the measures were: increases in the pensions according to the above- inflation rates, above inflation increases in the rates of the 'minimum income guarantee', also known as the MIG, and the introduction of the newly formulated 'pension credit' that was basically a means tested benefit for the…

Accounting for Postretirement Health Care and Life Insurance Benefits necessitates disclosures regarding an employer's accounting. These include a delineation of the provision of benefits and the groups of employees given coverage, a delineation of the employer's prevailing accounting and financing policies for such benefits and lastly the cost of such benefits acknowledged for the period. In particular, this is effective for the financial statements prepared by organizations for the financial period ending subsequent to December 15, 1984 with respect to postretirement health care and life insurance benefits that are provided not only in the United States but also international nations. Nonetheless, for financial periods prior to June 15, 1985 that lack data and information regarding benefits provided in foreign nations, it is not mandatory to include them (FASB, 2017).

Moreover, the net pension liability or net pension assets have to be included in the financial statements as an asset or…

trustees' actions, requiring the company plan to pay additional fees to the detriment of the interest of the pensioners, may have been abhorrent and unethical, strictly speaking according to the letter of the law, they were not a violation of the specific terms that are covered under ERISA. First of all, ERISA "does not require any employer to establish a pension plan. It only requires that those who establish plans must meet certain minimum standards. The law generally does not specify how much money a participant must be paid as a benefit." (ERISA, "Compliance Assistance," 2005) Nor does it specify that the pension must be of a certain amount, and is not subject to change, dependant upon the whims of the market and other commercial demands.

If the employer does maintain a plan, ERISA merely requires that the employee who is eligible to become a part of the pension plan…

Pension Systems

It is expected that by 2025, nearly fifteen percent of the world population will likely to be over sixty years of age. With increasing life expectancy the population of developing countries is aging much faster than that of industrial countries. It is expected that in 2030, approximately eighty percent of the total elderly population will reside in developing countries. A more relevant measure of the sustainability of old-age support systems is the dependency ratio, which calculates the elderly (normally those above 65) as a percentage of the working age population (between 15 and 64 years old). The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America (the "International") has two pension plans, the Teamster Affiliates Pension Plan (the "Affiliates Plan") and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Retirement and Family Protection Plan (the "Family Plan").

Pension plan is a retirement plan that is paid by the employers for…

Pension Funding and Provision

Pension schemes refer to arrangements for providing retirement benefits. Occupational schemes are prepared by organizations, or for a set of organizations, for providing at least one employee with benefits. In private sector firms, these schemes, linked to trustees, are regulated through trust law. Two key forms of job pension schemes exist (Banks et al. 2002), of which one is the defined benefit plan, wherein rules lay down benefit rates to be disbursed. 'Final salary' plan is the most widely-adopted defined benefit plan; however, of late, 'career average' plans are increasingly gaining importance. Meanwhile, 'money purchase' or defined contribution plans are those wherein benefits are governed by paid-in contributions, their investment returns, and nature of annuity bought at the time of retirement.

Defined Benefit Schemes

Sometimes called final salary pension plans, these schemes are primarily employer-sponsored, although, at times, staff has to pay regularly towards them. Such…

Tax Memo: Pension Payments

Mr. Jones

From, Tax Accountant, CPA

You are the president of a corporation owned by yourself and other family members. Your salary from this corporation during the year in question was $48,000. During this same year, $12,000 was also contributed by the corporation to a pension plan held on your behalf. You believe that this contribution should not be considered a part of your taxable income for the year in question. The IRS agent conducting an audit of the year in question believes the pension plan amount should be considered when making a determination of reasonable compensation.

The issues in this case are (1) whether it is proper to include the pension plan in a determination of compensation, and (2) if such inclusion would affect the determination of the compensation amount of any tax liabilities for the corporation or Mr. Jones during the year in question.…

Human esources Pay Package

Employee Compensation Plan

Target Job: egistered Nurse (N) in a Hospital

Hillcrest Hospital is a 496 bed hospital located in Mayfield Heights, a Cleveland Ohio Suburb. Hillcrest is ranked in the nation's top 100 in cardiac care. It is part of the Cleveland Clinic system. The mission of the hospital is to provide nationally ranked healthcare to the surrounding community. It holds clinical excellence, safety, ethics, integrity, individual responsibility, respect for diversity and caring for others as key tenets (Hillcrest Hospital, 2012a). Its vision is to service as an example of state-of-the-art medical facility in every department that delivers consistent high quality service to Northeast Ohio (Hillcrest Hospital, 2012b). The Cleveland Clinic system is one of the best renowned systems in the nations in a number of specialties in which they operate.

Hillcrest Hospital strives to put their patients first and looks for enthusiasm in employees.…

Pension Plan GAAS Changes

GAAS has implemented changes to Pension Plan reporting that go into effect on June 15, 2013 for Statement 67 and June 15, 2014 for Statement 68. This will affect the accounting and financial statement reporting of governmental organizations. Pension expense liability will be reported on the balance sheet to show a clearer picture of the organization's obligations, as well as more disclosure requirements and additional supplementary material.

Under Statement 67 the Net Pension Liability (NPL) is equal to the Total Pension Liability (TPL) minus the Plan Fiduciary Net Position (PFNP). The NPL must be reported on the balance sheet in the government wide financial statements (Kausch, 2012). The TPL is the liability for projected benefits attributable to post service, including automatic COLAs and substantively automatic ad hoc COLAs. It is determined on a historical pattern base, consistency of amounts, and evidence that they might not be…

Business Plan

Description of the Business

The business is a gourmet candy shop. The shop will sell gourmet candy that has been sourced from all over the world. The shop will operate with one storefront location, and there will be an Internet/mail order component as well.

The rationale for the business is simply. There is a growing trend towards hedonistic approaches to dining. We have seen in the past few years the rise of the bacon fetish, high end craft beer and coffee, cupcakes, the move of fine dining to the mass market and a full embrace by Americans of better quality indulgent goods. Much of this trend can be credited to the aging of the population, as people seek to maximize pleasure. They have the financial means to treat themselves, and seek to balance this hedonism with a desire to be healthy. The intersection of these ideals is where…

Merging Current etirement Plans at Company Y: Memo to CEO

In the wake of the recent merger, employees of Company Y are understandably anxious about the decision to create a single, unified retirement benefits plan for all employees. One segment of the company has a defined contribution plan, in which employees contribute to the plan with a portion of their salary, which is then matched by the company. The employees with this plan have sometimes benefited from the fact that a defined contribution plan can change in value, based upon market circumstances. "There is no way to know how much the plan will ultimately give the employee upon retiring. The amount contributed is fixed, but the benefit is not" (Defined contribution, 2011, Investopedia).

ecent market uncertainty has caused some employees to question the value of such a plan, given that many people nationwide lost a substantial part of their retirement…

Merging 401(k) Plan

The issue of vested and unvested employees is rather complicated. We need to analyze the facts and create several other groups, according to the 'vesting' intervals they find themselves in.

We need to address the issue of the vested employees at Claricom who have finished their 4-year period of vesting with Claricom, because, if the Staples schedule is adopted, we will need to consider what will happen with the additional one year that the scheme requires. As such, because the company has decided to adopt the Staples schedule, these employees will find their vesting period increased with an additional year and, even more so, they will also find 20% of their future benefits cut-off, as the additional year is considered to correspond to the additional 20% that the Staples schedule implies. It is probable that the most serious issue here is exactly this 20% difference. If they…

Benefit Plan Design Analysis

Select and profile an organization for the benefit plan

Extraordinary and above average people are recruited by ABC. Their task force possesses a number of exceptional skills and many of them are graduates of top universities or possess professional qualifications. One of the most interesting things about ABC is that it is continually trying to make the organization host to an increasingly global platform that employs people coming from various nationalities and cultures. This way, it makes sure that the creme de la creme of the task force is employed in the organization that is not afraid of taking on challenges. Also, the organization then comes up to their expectation by providing a healthy and competitive corporate culture.

Staff that is new to the ABC organization undergoes a series of sessions whose themes range from personal mentoring to formal training. The training is imparted by their…

Though this means a loss of $150,000 over the five years the Social Security benefits are not taken, this will be paid for in just twelve and a half years by the increased amount of the benefits (that is, it will take 12.5 years for the additional $12,000 per year to equal $150,000). In addition, there is a tax benefit in waiting to collect Social Security benefits until no additional income is coming in, and as Harry plans to continue working part-time for the foreseeable future and this could lead to taxation of the Social Security benefits. When Social Security benefits are the only source of income they are very rarely taxed, but even with the healthcare expenses Harry plans to commit his salary towards this income could lead to what essentially amounts to a tax penalty, pushing the combined total of his salary and the Social Security benefits into…

(Accounts Payable Processing: BPM Outsourcing) for enhanced managerial competence and price decline, many companies are concentrating a lot on reducing costs and reforming operations. The crisis is mainly severe on non-revenue producing, but vital jobs like accounts payable and purchasing. Accounts payable and procuring processes are main operations, but they are usually regarded as important cost centers. Thus, making constant developments in the accounts payable and procuring departments is an essential step to make sure that the organization is working at its most proficient and can bring in considerable profits. (Driving Continuous Improvements across Accounts Payable & Purchasing Processes)

Lack of appropriate account payable management entails the customers of the company to lose faith that forms a bad influence on the company. However, simultaneously the management of account payables is considered a strenuous task for most of the companies and necessitates skilled labor along with specialized training activities. Only due…

Crafting a Compensation and Benefits Plan

Description

Fishers is a mid-sized manufacturing company out to maintain market leadership through the development and implementation of a compensation plan that meets the needs of the owners, clients, as well as employees. Compensation programs are critical to the effectiveness of the organization as they play a fundamental role in employee motivation, satisfaction, and productivity. The company seeks to achieve two crucial objectives from the implementation of this compensation and benefits plan; i) to reduce turnover, which has been an imminent problem over the last couple of years; and ii) to attract new talent, while retaining and improving the existing one.

Executive Summary

The company is at a critical juncture; it can no longer offer the perks of a small entrepreneurial enterprise since it has exceeded the employee threshold for such categorization. Employees have been complaining over what they think is below-market compensation, and…

.governments are created by law and are continuously regulated by legal provisions found in constitutions, statutes, charters, ordinances, administrative regulations, legislative resolutions and judicial interpretation… the accounting system must produce data and information which indicate the extent to which the financial operations carried out by all agencies of the government pursuant to their designated objectives comply with applicable laws and legal requirements. The existence of a vast network of legal provisions and the diverse nature of governmental operations make necessary the utilization of fund account." (Snodgrass, 1993)

The fund accounting system is ostensibly the full gamut of accounting services and compliance protocol. "The general ledger, financial statements, accounts payable, purchase order processing with encumbrances, payroll including payroll projections and encumbrances, grants management and reporting, grants receivable, human resources, fixed assets management, central stores/inventory." (eis, 1996)

The city therefore should increase its capacity to more properly manage the financial and managerial…

ExxonMobil Chemical Corp: CS Plan / CS plan for ExxonMobil

Economic Status andExxonMobil Chemical

Political Status and ExxonMobil Chemical

Civil Society and ExxonMobil Chemical

Environmental status and ExxonMobil Chemical

Media Campaign for ExxonMobil

Located in Irving, Texas the Exxon Mobil Chemical is a U.S. company specializing in the production of gas and oil. The company was formed from the merger of Exxon and Mobil in November of 1999. Both companies had been part of the Standard Oil Company formed by John D. ockefeller. Exxon had been the branch of Standard Oil Company in New Jersey while Mobil had been the New York branch. The company serves the plastics industry by making use of the materials from its chemical plants and refineries to produce chemical building blocks (ExxonMobil, 2015d).

Company Vision and Value Statement

Part of the company vision is to be the "world's premier petrochemical company." In order to achieve…

Organizational Assessment as Impetus for Change at a Vet Center

Organizational Assessment as an Impetus for Change at a Vet Center

Organizational Context. Every type of organization has, or should have, as a major goal, the need to optimize the productivity of its human resources (Farr, Schuler & Smith, 1993). One organization that has recently assumed critical importance in the U.S. is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Today, the VA is responsible for administering an enormous healthcare and benefits network for its active duty and retired service members and their families at U.S. taxpayer expense.

Among the most prominent of such government-administered programs is the healthcare systems comprised of VA medical centers (VAMCs), outpatient clinics (VAOPCs), community and outreach clinics, and numerous Vet Centers. In fact, taken together, almost one-third of the American population (around 70 million persons who are veterans, dependents and survivors of deceased veterans) are eligible…

SBUX

Starbucks is a quick service restaurant that focuses on coffee and snacks. The company operates globally, with over 18,000 stores, roughly 55% of which are company-owned and the rest are franchised. Over 10,000 of these stores in are in the United States. Starbucks earned $14.89 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year (2013 Starbucks Annual eport). Starbucks employees are known as associates. In total, there are 191,000 associates (full-time equivalent) in the Starbucks system, most of whom work at the retail level (MSN Moneycentral, 2014). For this reason, this paper will mainly focus on the human resources policies that apply at the retail level.

Business Strategy

The basic business strategy that Starbucks follows is differentiation. The company seeks to provide a unique mix of product and service offerings that distinguish it from other locations where consumers can acquire coffee and snacks. The basic commodity, coffee, is difficult to…

In terms of the unions' pensions, however, there is a further area of consideration. Given the high potentiality of a negative outcome, what ethical obligation did the unions have to then protect their most vulnerable members from bearing the brunt of this outcome? Those retired and near retirement are in the poorest position to recover from losses to their pension plans. They have no time to make up the loss, whereas younger workers would still have decades to restructure their retirement plans. The unions themselves failed in their obligation to protect the older and retired workers from a devastating blow to their retirements. However, even taking this into consideration, there was still a duty on the part of United and especially the PBGC to attempt to mitigate the damage done to these more vulnerable employees, and they too failed in this regard.

Conclusion

Prior to the deal between PBGC and…

Public University System

It has a total of 234 thousand students on 10 different campuses. They were first organized 144 years ago and have been concentrating on delivering ground breaking educational services to stakeholders. ("Annual Financial eport," 2011) To determine if the university is fiscally sound requires carefully examining their financial statement and audit reports. This will be accomplished by studying the employee pension plan, analyzing how economic conditions will impact future growth, reviewing the treatment of federal grants and comparing how endowments are calculated. Together, these different elements will highlight the financial strength of the university and the way this is impacting the quality of services that are provided.

Identify and analyze the employee pension plan disclosures in the financial statements. Evaluate the impact of the GAASB proposed changes to the pension liabilities on the financial statements of the institution.

In the case of the employee pension plan, these…

The fact that the tax liability does not distinguish between qualified and non-qualified assets, means that they many people will have higher taxes when they begin taking these distributions. (Gambone, 2010) (Fisher, 2010)

This is particularly troubling because this kind of asset is often exempt from various estate and inheritance taxes. As many of the different pension and retirement plans will often claim how these investments are considered to be tax free. Yet, on the federal level there is no such distinction. This is troubling, because the conflicting regulations as far as taxes are concerned, will have an impact upon the underlying return that are investors are receiving. Where, they assume that they will be able to receive a substantial amount of tax benefits, while being able to invest in conservative areas that can provide them with continuous growth. As a result, most people are surprised by the sudden tax…

Social Security is a big insurance collection into which all working people contribute.

The current Social Security system is similar to an underfunded pension. Underfunded does not mean that it is in a dilemma, but that its funds are not sufficient to pay future benefits without gathering future tax revenues. Ultimately, Congress will have to deal with whether to change Social Security. Politically, much of the support for the program stems from the awareness that it is an earned benefit, not a welfare program. But in a time of fiscal strictness, Congress should at least think about whether it makes sense that an increase in taxes to finance the system automatically increases the benefits paid to those who need help the least.

Even though Social Security is often compared to private pensions, it shouldn't be since it is truly a social insurance program and not a retirement plan. Social Security…

Concerning employment practices in general, the order not only strictly prohibited discrimination in hiring, but it also entered into the lexicon the now commonplace idea of Equal Opportunity Employment and established the premise of Affirmative Action. In doing so, this order would also explicit the prohibition of discriminatory treatment of employees once hired, seeming to build a legal case for those who would argue that a compensation system demonstrates elements of individual discrimination.

6. Explain the sorts of errors that can arise in the performance appraisal process.

The quality of an organization's project will only be as good as the performances which are dedicated to its completion. Thus, it is central that proper oversight and leadership acknowledge individual and group performance markers in order to properly interpret the ongoing effectiveness of meeting a project's goals.

A crucial and preemptive approach to ensuring that project contributors are meeting expectations is to…

0, 4.0, and 4.5 percentage points in FYs 1982, 1983, and 1984, respectively, for States whose growth exceeded certain targets, ORA-81 also reduced eligibility for welfare benefits, thus making it harder for poor families to qualify for Medicaid (Klemm, 2000). The legislation of this era began to weaken this link by specifying eligibility criteria based on income in relation to Federal poverty guidelines. In 1991, spending controls were established, provider donations were banned, and provider taxes were capped. As a result of the mandates of the previous era, the recession, and other factors, a great deal of pressure was placed on already strained State budgets, most of which were running deficits by 1991 or 1992. Increasing Medicaid caseloads (average annual growth of 12%) and mounting expenditures prompted some States to turn to alternative financing mechanisms, which relied on disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, combined with the use of provider donations…

8.

Family assistance programs provide assistance for employees and families in need. These have the benefit of strengthening employee commitment and loyalty to the workplace by boosting employee morale. The work-to-family program, for example, helps employee scope with caring for children or aging parents by providing assistance as part of insurance benefits. There is also a family assistance program to address partner violence, which has a severe effect on employee productivity and well-being. A further assistance program is offered to families of military personnel deployed to combat environments. Such programs provide both financial and moral support to families who must cope with such separation in the long-term.

It is vital for employers to provide employees with these kinds of assistance, since they cultivate both loyalty and well-being among employees. Both these factors tend to increase the ability of employees to deliver good service.

eferences

Department of Health and Human Services…

In the meantime, you have a normal, functioning economy. Keynes's theory impelled a host of interventionist economic policies during the Great Depression and formed the essence of Roosevelt's New Deal which influenced Britain and other countries in dealing with their own related depressions. The Great Depression in all countries had compelled people to hoard their money causing the economy to stop at a standstill. Keynes's theory urged governments to step in and to encourage public spending, which the government did by both increasing the money supply and buy buying things itself. In this way, government spending is more effective than taxes since raise in taxes will only serve to dissuade people from buying. An attitude which leads to reduced consumerism, more businesses closing, less employment, firing of current workers, and reluctance to engage in discretionary spending.

2. Division of Government Functions

Our federal system divides responsibilities between the various levels…

Defined contribution plans, such as a 401K, in contrast, are far riskier for the employee although they may yield higher rates of return. "There is no way to know how much the plan will ultimately give the employee upon retiring. The amount contributed is fixed, but the benefit is not" and is dependant upon the performance of the fund," although as with defined benefit and cash balance plans, there are restrictions regarding when these plans can be withdrawn (Defined contribution, 2009, Invesetopedia). The benefit ceases when the account balance is depleted, regardless of the retiree's age, personal circumstances, previous salary and position, or years of service to the company (Defined Benefit Plans (DB) vs. Defined Contribution Plans (DC), 2009).

orks Cited

Cash balance pension plan. (2009). Investopedia. Retrieved March 17, 2009 at http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cashbalancepensionplan.asp

Defined benefit plan. (2009). Investopedia. Retrieved March 17, 2009 at http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/definedbenefitpensionplan.asp

Defined Benefit Plans (DB) vs. Defined…

Business Law

Sam is operating on thin ground with his offering of a pension plan for his 12 employees. Technically he is correct when he says he does not have to offer a pension plan to his employees, but, by having done so, he now assumes fiduciary responsibility for that plan.

"The duty to act prudently is one of a fiduciary's responsibilities under ERISA. It requires expertise in a variety of areas, such as investments." (U.S. 2006)

Because Sam does not have the expertise required to manage a pension plan, as evidenced by the fact that he is prepared to invest 50% of the plan's assets into company stock, he could find himself in hot water if, and when, the company experiences difficult financial times or even has to declare bankruptcy. It is rather strange that a company with only 12 employees has stock, which would probably mean that the…

Actions that warrant for boundary should be on a written document and be available to employees at all time. This system should also take care of verbal and nonverbal agreement of contract expenditure, and no cost approval beyond the budget unless being approved by senior management and financing unit

These boundaries must be revised on an annual basis and edited if necessary. When employees understand the core beliefs and boundary system, then they do not just worry about delivering the bottom line results. Instead, they will strive to deliver corporate objectives without crossing boundaries.

Diagnostic control system should also be employed into the company whereby, new processes and performance measurements must be developed for the following:

Unit occupancy rate: this strives to achieve economy of scale.

Internal auditing: There should be a team of internal auditor reporting to the accounting VP. This team must constantly review the transactions and ensuring…

As a part of my work, I have conducted on-going analysis and monitoring of the risks involved in a variety of investment funds. I remained at the cutting edge of market research, for I must be aware of the subtlest differences amongst different funds. This invaluable work experience has not only steeled my stomach to risk, but has shown me the importance of mathematics and programming in the financial field. Quantitative data, properly studied, remains the most invaluable tool in risk management today.

I have also already begun my initial creative work in the field. Recently, I developed my first quantitative model at work, an original program using Excel to generate risk ratings for different funds, based on statis data. Through my employment as well I have broadened my knowledge base about derivates in the capital markets products, through direct involvement in transactions as well as self-study conducted at in-house…

Vision Plan - Our Vision Plan is administered by Vision Services Plan (VSP).

Life Insurance/Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan - We provide Basic Life Insurance coverage in the amount equal to your annual base earnings (a minimum of $30,000).

Short-Term Disability (STD) Plan

Long-Term Disability (LTD) Plan

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Plan

Tax-Deferred Savings Plan - 401(k)

Pension Plan

Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

Business Casual Dress

Flexible Hours

Associate Scholar Program

Associate PC Purchase Program

Associate Adoption Assistance" (Official Website of U.S. Cellular, 2008)

U.S. Cellular has often been accused for implementing a rather strict method of selecting their employees. And they do. In addition, criticism in regard to their human resource policies also stated that the company is not interested in hiring middle-age individuals. This is not entirely true, for I do have several colleagues around the age of 50, but it does have some truth in it…

In the case of retirees of 65 and over, it decreased from 7.5% in 2007 to 6.36% in 2008. The rate to which the cost trend is assumed to decline was maintained at a constant level of 5% in 2007 and 2008.

Given the company's financial situation and the current global economic conditions, it is estimated that the compensation and benefit costs will decrease in the following years. The company estimated the following evolution:

Pension benefits: $4,964 in 2008, $4,841 in 2009, $4,864 in 2010

Postretirement benefits: $2,520 in 2008, $2,636 in 2009, $2,733 in 2010

Medicare subsidy receipts: $120 in 2008, $130 in 2009, $140 in 2010

The company is very active in the stock-based compensation plan. This type of compensation is encouraged by the company's board of directors. The compensation cost in 2005 reached $143, in 2006 it reached $301, and in 2007 it reached $720.

Advantages and…

A very important point is that online learning can be done individually or in groups (for example video conferences).

6. In general, in order to make a career choice one should be informed about the world of professions. Information about the profession that appears the most interesting and appropriate should be gathered. If possible, it would be important to read interviews or talk to people with similar jobs for a more accurate and realistic image. Another important part in a career choice is to assess individual strengths and weaknesses. Several personality tests are available for such a purpose (for example CPI - California Psychological Inventory, SDS - the Self-Directed Search questionnaire). For the persons in search for a career it is important to identify the skills they have and they most enjoy using. The career identified should be compatible with the interests and skills identified. In conclusion, a person who…

Business income refers to any income usually realized for the execution or transaction of business activity. This indicates that business income is the aspect of earned income from the perspective of business transaction or activity. In order for the business income to apply to the aspect of the taxation system, it is essential to classify business income as ordinary income. Business income consists of business expenses, business losses, and business profits. It is the difference between revenues and expenses of the process of business transactions. This indicates that business income can be positive or negative within the financial year depending on the size of the expenses and revenues. Business income is received from the transactions or sales of products or services within the defined market.

Question Two

OECD model treaty defines a clear perspective in relation to the handling of the business income. This is through indicating that the income…

Employee Compensation Deduction

Tax Research Memorandum

Mr. Jones, President

From: Tax Accountant, CPA

Tax Treatment of Employee Compensation in Business Deductions

Facts

Mr. Jones is the President of a corporation owned by him and members of his family. Mr. Jones was paid $48,000 in salary and the corporation paid $12,000 in a pension plan contribution on Mr. Jones's behalf for the tax year. The IRS Agent claims that both the salary paid to Mr. Jones and the pension plan contribution must be taken into account to determine whether the total compensation is reasonable in amount. The corporation wants to know if the pension plan contribution must be taken into account in determining the total compensation reasonableness to Mr. Jones.

Issue

The issue is whether the pension plan contribution paid by the corporation must be included with Mr. Jones salary for the tax year to determine whether the total compensation was…

Firms with what organisational patterns are more likely to acquire existing firms? In what stage of internationalisation is acquisition more likely? Such research should not assume that such decisions are always rational. It may be that irrational factors are important at times. For example, it might be that the rush to acquire businesses in Europe prior to 1992 and to acquire companies in Asia in the mid-1990s reflected a bandwagon effect with firms developing strategies to legitimise their investments after the decision has been made (McDougall, et al., 2004). Research might also give attention to a broader range of entry modes beyond exporting, licensing and FDI. Strategic alliances with local or other foreign firms may involve no transfer of funds. Alliances are another entry mode option which deliver similar strategic advantages to joint ventures but have received little attention in the literature beyond those firms whose home country is either…

The American Association of Retired persons found that pension plans' coverage is quite unstable, differing greatly based on ethnicity, age, pay grade, and education.

In addition, the AARP also found that social security benefits are becoming a problem in many countries, as the number of retired persons who receive benefits rise and the number of births fall.

As people who live in troubled economic times, some are not following government advice to save for retirement.

The United States Department of Labor advocates managing a retirement account with the same amount of attention and importance one would give a bank account.

Mr. C did not follow this advice, and his reliance on government and employer-based plans fell through.

He and his wife were both forced to work after retirement.

This cut into the traveling and relaxing plans that he had made.

Now, Mr. C cannot live the lifestyle that he always…

Q12. Describe the impact of legislation on the field of compensation management.

Minimum wage and overtime laws restrict the minimum amount employers can offer to workers; anti-discrimination legislation mandates that employees are compensated without regards to their racial, ethnic, gender, or disabled status.

Q13. Identify the impact of incentives such as bonuses to a compensation program.

For some professions, such as sales and investment banking, bonuses derive the bulk of the individual's expected salary. Bonuses can also be a means of distinguishing social status between employees. Bonuses can also simply be used to encourage higher levels of performance, based upon short-term outcomes.

Q14. Explain how the global market affects U.S.-based companies' compensation.

In a global marketplace, high-quality employees are more 'portable,' but because of the ability to outsource labor, employees may also find their salaries kept artificially low through the availability of lower-cost foreign workers.

Q15. Describe salary/market surveys.

Salary…

iordan Japan

Lord's Payer: iordan in Japan

Globalization has many different effects on the world, the nations within it, and the individual organizations and people that populate these nations. Many of the effects and challenges of globalization work in indirect ways, and these are the effects that are quite often areas of ethical concern when it comes to international business, however there are also many direct considerations that businesses must take into account when they are globalizing or engaging in any multinational/international endeavors. The day-to-day operations and the minute details of international business have immense legal and ethical implications that extend well beyond simply trying to conduct business in a way that benefits all organizations and nations involved. Careful consideration of even the most innocuous-seeming of business actions and transactions renders these complications strikingly clear.

Compensation for employees relocated to a foreign country is one of the issues that presents…

Business

WalMart v. Publix

Weisbords Six Box Model

WalMart

Publix

WalMart

Publix

Comparison of the Two Firms

Potential Areas of esistance

Weisbords Six Box Model

The analysis of an organization with the use of Weisbords Six Box Model involves looking at the organization from six different dimensions, which are all interdependent (Burke, 1992). The dimensions are purposes, structure, relationships, rewards, leadership and helpful mechanisms. The leadership dimension (or box) is at the centre with the reaming five boxes surrounding. Each organization will be assessed separately.

WalMart

Purpose; WalMart is a for profit retail operation, with a large number of shareholders. The purpose may be extrapolated as operating successfully as a retail operation, creating profit for the shareholders. The mission statement for WalMart is simple, and positions the firm in terms of its strategy. The mission statement reads "we save people money so they can live better" (WalMart, 2014). The purpose…

2007 Economic Crisis on American Car market

Effect of the 2008 global economic crisis on automotive industries

Crisis in the United States

Crisis in Canada

Crisis in ussia

Crisis in European markets

Crisis in Asian markets

Effects by other related crisis events

In this paper, we will review the effects of 2008 global automotive crisis. Our main focus will be on the American car manufacturers and the negative impact they suffered due to the crisis. We will also have a look at how this crisis had affected car manufacturers in other major markets around the world notably Europe, Canada and the prominent Asian markets such as China and India. Finally, we will look at some of the other factors which were important to this event namely the energy crisis since the cost of fuel is directly related to the car industry.

Introduction

The automobile industry is a very important part…

Sometime the debtor is able to successfully reduce its liability and returns to profitability but quite often it returns to seek the court's protection again and sometime the end result is liquidation.

Under Chapter 11 protections, the debtor gets an automatic protection from all creditors. The unsecured creditors cannot lay a claim on assets and secured creditors are also prevented from foreclosing on their collateral. A Chapter-11 company also gets the advantage of discarding or renegotiating union agreements, ability to freeze or cut wages and benefits and restructures its staffing requirement. Retirement and pension plans can also be reviewed or the company can transfer its pension obligations to the Federal Pension enefit Guaranty Corporation.

The reorganization is carried out by the bankruptcy and the court appointed trustee. The trustee appoints committee(s) to represent the creditor's interests and work out a plan for reorganization of the company. The reorganization plan must…

early retirement incentives as a downsizing strategy sUMMAY: This is a thesis that analyzes and studies the use of early retirement incentives as a downsizing strategy by organizations. It has 23 references in APA format.

Chapter I- Definition of the Problem

Definition of terms-alphabetical order

Chapter II- literature eview

Health and security

Tax deferral

Financial targeting

Institutional ationale

Employees Impacted

Chapter III- Methodology

19-Data collection

19-Data analysis

Chapter IV- Data analysis

21-Analysis relevant to research

25-Analysis relevant to research

26-Analysis relevant to research

Chapter 5- Summary, Conclusions, ecommendations

29-Summary

32-Conclusion

33-ecommendation

EFEENCES

Definition of the Problem

-Introduction

Over the last fifteen years organizations strived to renew their relationships with employees and at the same time tried to survive through economic downturn. In this renewal process these organizations have experienced multiple intricate processes like structuring, resourcing, forestalling decline in profits as well as incorporating new state policies. The struggle to survive…

The people who opt for early retirement stop staring contribution to pension system where as they start getting the benefits of pension system. (Prieto, 1997)

The traditional unfunded social security system is facing lot of problems in the United States and other developing countries with the increasing life expectancy of the people. The cost of providing any level of service is directly linked to the percentage of people who are employed against people who have already retired and enjoying pension in a pay-as-you-go system. The problem is continuing and increasing with people's move towards early retirement which is encouraged in many countries social security system. Even in the event of retirement being stabilized, the steep increase in the ratio of the aged against that of working age is contributing to the substantial raise in the cost of pay-as-you-go system. The United States estimators, who work for social security system, forecast…

Every organization has limits on the resources available to it, and outsourcing career services will permit IM to redirect its resources toward activities which serve the customer. IM will be able to redirect the people that previously worked in the career services area to different value adding activities. For example, employees whose energies are currently focused internally can now be focused externally on the customer. IM's company focus can be improved through Fidelity's handling of its' career services. Fidelity is much more experienced in the career services area, and IM will stand to benefit in this area by having operational functions assumed by an outside expert. Furthermore, more quality employees can be employed or promoted through Fidelity's expertise in career services.

IM will also be able to invest funds previously spent on career services in other necessary or lacking areas. Tremendous risks are associated with the investments an organization makes.…

" China's undeveloped market limits investment returns potential and express insurance to a risk in investment. (eijing Review, 2005) A plan for compulsory malpractice insurance was stated by the eijing Insurance Regulatory Committee in June 2005 under a directive requiring all state-owned non-profit making medical organizations to have coverage under medical mal-practice insurance.

Interim rules were also reported to be set for allowing insurance funds to enter the stock market. Those were stated to be: (1) The specific proportion for insurance institutional investors to invest in stocks; (2) The basic criteria for measuring the performance of the stocks to be invested before insurance organizations invest in the stocks; (3) The contents of related statements and reports for stock investment and the way for being reported to the authorities; (4) And the administrative rules on independent seats for stock trading, as well as a guide for custody of stock assets of…

finance and financial entrepreneurship. The basis of the article is on a discussion that was held on this subject among four leading lights of financial entrepreneurship in the United States - Michael Milken, Lewis Ranieri, Richard Sandor and Myron Scholes. These people are famous in their own right and have had a sizeable role in financial entrepreneurship in the U.S. over the last 20 years. We have first discussed their achievements to get a clear idea about their personal achievements. This would certainly give a clear idea of what is possible in the U.S. today. They are of course interesting characters and one has to remember that the ideal entrepreneur of the 21st century cannot be thought of as an updated version of Henry Ford. After the discussion of the people, the meeting and the discussions held there are summarized. ased on the total information collected, we have come to…