Role of Human Resources in the Payment of Salaries

One of the most important functions of Human Resources is the payment of the proper salaries and wages to all company employees. The pay that the employees receive from their employer is the very reason for their being the job. The pay provides them with strong incentive to do their jobs well and the rate of pay indicates their status in the company. The pay determines the standard of living and their positions in the community where they live. It must be commensurate with their efforts and contributions to the companys profitability index. The determination of the proper level of pay is the foundation of effective employee and employer relationship as a satisfied worker will stay longer in the company and develop a working team that could be beneficial to both parties. The function of the payroll in a company is usually the wage and salary administration and is carried out by the Human Resources Department. The most important duty of the Human Resources is to set wage scales high enough to attract better employees and contribute to the level of profitability that will sustain continuous profitable operations. The level of pay must not impair profits, however.

H Hours actually worked R Rate per hour in pesos W Total wages earned Payment on the basis of time worked is more satisfactory under the following conditions: 1. Employees have little or no control over how much work they produce. 2. There is no clear-cut relationship between the effort made to produce the work and the amount of work produced. 3. Work delays occur often and are beyond the employees control. 4. Quality of work is very important. 5. Units of work produced cannot be distinguished and cannot be measured. 2. By the Amount of Work Produced earning depends on how much work the employee completes or on a related factor, such as the quality of work. This method of paying is called an Incentive wage plan. The most common incentive plan is called piecework. Piecework salaries are determined by the number of pieces produces or completed, and each piece is assigned a piece value that is called piece rate. The formula for computing salaries under piecework is as follows: NxU=W In which : N Number of units produced U Rate per unit in peso W Wages earned per day or per week Payment by piecework is satisfactory under the following conditions: 1. When a unit of completed work can be measured easily; 2. When there is a clear relationship between a workers effort and the results of his effort; 3. When the quality of work is less important than quantity, or when quality standards are uniform and measurable;

Methods of Wage Payment

The purpose of a formal wage and salary management plan is to have a systematic method of payment to ensure that employees receive a fair wage and salary for the work they perform. 1. By the time Worked wages are computed in terms of unit of time. Day-work methods of pay usually include weekly, biweekly, or monthly bases. Paying by the time worked is called Non-incentive wage plan because the method of calculations will not immediately result in more money. No matter how hard an employee works during an hour, the pay will be computed hourly rate and no more. Wages under this plan are computed is as follows: HxR=W In which :

4. When the flow of work is regular, breakdowns are few, and jobs follow a standard procedure, with few interruptions.

Choose between right and wrong. Workers must be vigilant and uncompromising in asserting their rights as well as in performing their responsibilities. 5. Use the same measures on yourself. You want a leader who is not immoral, corrupt or incompetent. Exact the same measure or standards on yourself. 6. Face the mirror. If you have the guts, ask somebody you trust to tell you what is wrong with your character. Then take the feedback positively as a gift for your improvement. 7. Show the mirror to your leaders. If you want honest and concerned leaders, you might just have to show them the mirror, too. Some of them might have blind spots and cant see their mistakes, shortcomings, and transgressions. 8. Dont just admit mistakes; correct them. Humility to admit mistakes is great but not enough. There must be correction. 9. Have an improvement plan. You must exert deliberate effort to mend the cracks in your character. 10. Rebuild and dont slide back. Set your mind toward the future. Stop going back to your past, except to see how much you have progressed.

Wage and Salary Policies

The company or any organization must have a clear-cut wage and salary policy. These policy guidelines will help the organization have better relationships with employees and develop more comprehensive employee financial planning program. These characteristics include the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. The wage and salary plan must be easily understood. Salaries in the wage plan should be easily computed. Salaries should be made relevant with efforts. Incentive wage plans should provide payment for incentive earnings to employees soon after they have been earned by efforts exerted to reach standards. 5. The method of payment should be stable and unvarying.

Moral Renewal in the Workplace

1. Know that leaders have limitations. Steven Berglas of the Harvard Medical School believes that people who achieve great heights but lack the bedrock character to sustain them through the stress are headed for disaster. 2. Choose character. John C. Maxwell is right in his observation that, We have no control over a lot of things in life. We dont get to choose our parents. We dont select the location or circumstances of our birth and upbringing. We dont get to pick our talents and IQ. But we do choose our character. In fact, we create it every time when we make choices. 3. Walk the talk. Integrity is important in the workplace. 4. Avoid compromising.

Other Information Related to Wages

Labor and Wages The type of job one does and the financial compensation he or she receives are very important in our society. Job type is linked to status as is wealth. While the type of job one performs is arguably more important status wise then wealth, both are important to Americans.

In the past, we use to use other descriptions to classify workers. Blue Collar manual laborers White Collar Office Workers Pink Collar jobs with women like nursing, secretarial, etc. this, being a rather sexist term, is no longer used.

Objectives of the Company in Granting Fringe Benefits are:

1. To provide additional protection and comfort to their employees and their families as they consider them as members of the team. 2. To maintain and develop employees as an effective work force duly committed to their corporate mission and vision. 3. To develop productive and happy employees and develop greater loyalty and commitment to motivate them to remain in the employment of the company. 4. Develop greater partnership in the development of quality products and services to their customers and clients. 5. To develop satisfied employees and more concerned workers to avoid activism in the workplace that will interfere with company production. 6. To develop partnership with labor unions and employees associations.

Today we classify our work roles into three categories called labor grades. These labor grades are described below: Skilled Labor these are workers who have received specialized training to do their jobs. Examples are carpenters, electricians, business executives, managers, police, engineers, accountants, mechanics, etc. these maybe blue or white collar workers. Unskilled Labor these are workers who have received no special training and have few skills. Examples are construction workers, sanitation and custodial workers, painters, factory assembly line workers, etc. these are blue collar workers. Professionals arguably the elite of the labor grades, these are those workers who need an advanced degree to do their jobs. The three primary groups of professionals are doctors, lawyers, and teachers. These are white collar workers.

The Classification of Benefits

Benefits could be classified under the following: 1. Statutory Benefits are benefits mandated by law such as: 13th moth pay given half in June and half in December 5 day incentive leave Birthday leave Maternity leave with pay for married women Paternity leave with pay when husbands wife gives birth Pag-ibig Fund for medical expenses of employees and dependents g. Social Security Benefits retirement pension, death, burial, disability, sickness, medical rehabilitation, employee compensation in case of accidents in the performance of work h. Cost of living allowance a. b. c. d. e. f. 2. Company Benefits these are benefits granted by the company outside of those mandated by law. These benefits could be through a

The Concept of Benefits

Benefits are anything that are not covered by regular salaries and wages. It is anything that contributes to the improvement of the conditions of work, and that motivates the employee to do good work. Benefits are additional compensations that the employees receive regularly at an interval stipulated in the company policies and guidelines. Benefits are granted to employees to assist them and facilities are provided so that they will enjoy their stay in the company. The main purpose is to develop greater commitment and loyalty and to keep good employees in their company roster.

collective bargaining agreement and those that are given unilaterally by management. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. m. n. o. p. q. r. s. t. Vacation leave with pay this varies from company to company Sick leave with pay Bereavement leave Hospitalization plan Sickness and accident insurance plan Life insurance and pension plans Christmas and mid-year bonus Housing equity assistance Educational plan Recreational and physical fitness facilities Legal aid Car plan Company service and transportation Stock option plan Management bonus Emergency leave Personal leave Union leave Production sharing plan Profit-sharing

It aims to modify employees attitudes to achieve greater employee efficiency, productivity, and loyalty to the firm and keener interest in its welfare. Employers who subscribe to the concept of profit-sharing look upon their workers as partners or co-workers of the enterprise.

Types of Plans
1. The Cash Plan also known as the Current Distribution Plan. This provides for payment of the employees share in the profit in cash based on his salary or wage. Shares under this arrangement are generally paid quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. 2. The Deferred Distribution Plan this program establishes a trust fund to provide employees with future payment. The distribution of profits is withheld until the employees retirement, death or disability. 3. The Purchase Plan under this plan, participating employees are permitted to purchase, often through payroll deductions, shares of company stock, either or less than the prevailing market price or at a price value. The scope and nature of benefits are so varied as enumerated above but such benefits can be further classified into four major categories: 1. 2. 3. 4. Economic and financial benefits Recreational, social and athletic services Health and medical services Professional services

Profit-sharing Plans
Profit-sharing is an incentive plan under which an employee agrees to share with his personnel a specified portion of the net profits of his business at the end of each fiscal period or over a given period. It is not a pension or a bonus. It provides payment of current or deferred sums based on the profitability of the enterprise as a whole.

Successful Personnel Management Requires Six Characteristics

Among these characteristics is whether the authorities, resources, and incentives are in place to help managers achieve their organizations goals. Although management experts and economists do not have an explicit list of criteria that make a system successful, the factors that are usually identified in studies of organizational management can be grouped into a list of six characteristics or criteria (Milgrom and Roberts, 1992; Tirole, 2000).

Purpose of Profit-sharing
It is believed that employees would feel they have a stake in the company if they get a direct share in the profits of the enterprise in which they work.

1. The HR system offers flexible personnel and compensation tools or policies that efficiently promote the organizations missions. Compensation and personnel policies provide incentives to attract, retain, motivate, and eventually separate personnel. These policies are sufficiently flexible to allow managers to respond to different markets and to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. The more uncertain or variable the environment, the more flexibility that is required. 2. Managers have discretion over how the personnel and compensation tools are used. Managers are able to set pay, to hire, to assign, to retain, to reward, and to separate personnel, and to allocate resources. A general principle in the management literature is that authority to make decisions is given to the managers and workers who have the information and incentives to act on that authority. 3. Managers have the incentive to use the personnel and compensation policies in a way that supports the organizations mission. Unused tools or tools that are used incorrectly or ineffectually are not beneficial. Compensation and personnel policies for managers must provide incentives for the effective employment of the HR tools. These incentives must be linked to a system that monitors managers performance and holds them accountable for measured outcomes. 4. Resources are available to implement and monitor those policies. Unfunded toolsfor example, authority to pay bonuses without fundingare not beneficial either. Resources must also be devoted to gathering data and analyzing the outcomes that result from these policies on an ongoing basis. Such data and analysis inform policymaking and promote transparency. 5. Policies are transparent and appropriately linked to the organizations goals, and their implementation is subject to both internal and external oversight. The policies are transparent to prevent the incidence and costs of opportunistic behavior and fraud among managers. Fraud and nepotism are more likely to occur when managers have more discretion. Therefore, HR systems that are more flexible and provide more managerial discretion also have an additional amount of oversight. 6. Policies are stable and limit the financial and career risks that workers face. Workers who are exposed to greater uncertainty and unpredictability in their pay and opportunity relative to other employment options receive higher overall compensation, on average, to compensate for that risk. Otherwise, worker morale and recruiting/retention will be diminished.

Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational safety and health programs is to foster a safe work environment. As a secondary effect, it may also protect co-workers, family members, employers, customers, suppliers, nearby communities, and other members of the public who are impacted by the workplace environment.

Grievance and Complaints

A grievance is a wrong or hardship suffered, which is the grounds of a complaint. In legal terminology, a complaint is a formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff[s] beliefs are sufficient to support a claim against the party or parties against whom the claim is brought [the defendant(s) that entitle(s) the plaintiff(s) to a remedy (either money damages or injunctive relief)]).
Types of Grievance and Complaints
Table 1: Types Grievance Typology Description Complaint or protest from an individuals or Exclusion Error households excluded from the beneficiary list who feels they should be included in the program. Complaint about an individual registered as a Inclusion Error beneficiary who is considered by the complainant to ineligible to receive Pantawid Pamilya cash payments. Complaint from potential beneficiaries not able Registration to attend the initial community validation/assemblies Lateness Payment Payment amount lower/higher than entitlement Payment cut off inappropriately

Employee Health Safety

Problems with ATM cards or alternative payment systems Health clinic closed Doctor/nurse/midwife not present Health Service Provision Logistics (drugs/medical equipment) not available Slow service School closed Education Service Provision Teacher absent Classrooms and teaching facilities inadequate Compliance Complaint from beneficiary wishing to appeal against sanction for non-compliance Pressure applied on beneficiaries through the External pressure imposition of additional conditions or coercion/obligatory participation in any special projects in the community Collection of fees/extortion by local officials, Corruption/Embezzlement/ Extortion project staff or concerned service providers False information Corruption in project contracts Other related issues Pressure applied on communities through the Political Abuse of Power imposition of additional conditions or coercion to work on government projects Complaint about suspension or termination due to noncompliance Complaint from beneficiary wishing to appeal against sanction for non-compliance