Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I NEED SOME IDEAS ON WHAT KINDS OF BENIFITS MY WORKERS IN MY BUSINESS SHOULD HAVE. ALSO HOW LONG SHOULD AN EMPLOYEE WORK BEFORE THEY GET A RAISE.

Benefits of general retail store: paid holidays, paid sick days, health care benefits, 401K, employee discount on merchandise, personal days, flex spending accounts, vacation days, pension plan, tuition reimbursement, stock purchase plan and maternity leave are a few of the benefits you will find at some companies. Some companies will evaluate their associates after 90 days of employment, while others wait a full year. Benefits also start at different times according to what the company has decided on. Usually, only the full-time or salaried employees benefits are active on their hire date.

Usually 1 week paid vacation in the first year, which is separate from the paid holidays of the store. Sometimes that week includes "personal days," but they can be a separate benefit.

Another benefit would be whether or not unused vacation days "roll over" to the next year, or vanish at the end of the year. If they do roll over, for how long? Think about someone who works all the time, and 10 years later, they have months worth of unused vacation days.

Yet another option would be that if the unused days don`t rollover, they can be "cashed in" for a day`s pay.

How long must someone work there before they get 2 weeks, and what`s the top limit per year, three weeks....four weeks?

Raises would be on an annual basis. Some places have a policy that you MUST be given an employee review, handled by your direct supervisor, within 30 days of your anniversary date (the day you got hired, after the 90-day trial period).

Pay raises are set to percentages, usually between 3-10% or thereabouts (I`m not an HR professional). But the salary itself is usually within a range. So a floor sales person might have a range of between $8.60 - $10.45/hour.

When they`re hired, depending on past experience, they would come into the salary at the low-to-middle of that range. That would leave them "room" for raises, yet still keep them within the range. If they stay in one job long enough to limit out the top of the range, then HR should have a "career path" that provides a way for them to be promoted to the next level.