Student Number
External and Internal Factors and how they affect Benefit Packages
Course Number
Compensation and Benefits
Session I
FALL 2013
Date
Introduction When creating a benefit package for their organization, managers must take into consideration an array of conditions that will affect both the organization and the personnel it employs. These conditions range from external factors such as laws mandated by both local and federal agencies to internal factors such as administrative requirements, cost that stem from purchasing and maintaining equipment and employee incentives. By the end of this paper, I will explain the essential role each of these factors play in the establishment of an organization’s benefit package.
External Factors One of the biggest, if not the largest, challenge an organization faces when seeking to recruit the best qualified personnel in hopes of building a workforce whose loyalty keeps them from seeking employment elsewhere is to design a benefit’s package that will adhere to all lawful mandates and is perceived as being fair by all employees. As noted by the author or our text, “companies establish strategic benefit plans on the interpretation of pertinent information in the external and internal environments.”(Martoccio, 2011, p. 19) Lawful mandates, or external factors, are important because failure to follow them will result in stiff penalties for the organization. Federal laws such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Social Security Act and the Federal Unemployment Act were designed to ensure employees received fair treatment from employers. The Equal Pay Act (EPA) of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were designed to prevent employers from discriminating against potential employees. “The EPA was specifically enacted to end gender discrimination in pay…the Civil Rights Act of 1964…makes it