Employee entitlement refers to all the rights of an employee that are meant to be fulfilled by the employer. This is not only related to the rights of an employee about also to the facilities and services which are meant to be taken care of by an employer.
If the employer does not meet these requirements, the employer becomes prone to lawsuits, which can result in heavy penalties for the employer and the company. Such a situation affects the reputation of a company and the employer and severely affects the company’s finances. Hence it is essential to make sure that these rights of the employees are being fulfilled rightly. This benefits both the employer and the company in the short term and the long term.
Here we give a comprehensive list of all the things that you will need to consider developing an employee entitlement package:
Establish Employee Type for Every Employee
Strictly defining the exact capacity with which an employee is serving a company is essential to designating the correct rights and facilities for each employee. The employee types include full-time, part-time, ad-hoc, casual, probation, etc.
It is evident that if an employee is not given the correct designation, they will become entitled to rights outside of their correct entitlement. Hence, defining these types strictly and making sure that the employee understands them makes business operations more accessible in the long run for the company and its employees.
National & International Laws
All companies must deal with international and local laws when conducting business operations. These laws also contain comprehensive guidance on what the company’s employees are entitled to in the state in which the company is registered.
If the employer does not meet these national government standards, it will cause heavy penalties for the employer and the company. To avoid such unfortunate circumstances, the company should take proper steps to establish the rights set by the government.
Employee Leaves
Another important subject is that of employee leaves. It is essential to ensure that the company grants its employees leave when circumstances arise. Failing to do so will be in direct violation of the leave entitlement laws. Leave entitlement laws to allow the employees to take annual, sick, maternity/paternity, and other leaves if a circumstance arises.
It is the job of the company to implement these laws and make sure that the employees understand what they are entitled to when it comes to leaving entitlement laws.
Employee Breaks
Each industry has its standard for overtime, breaks, and rosters. If these standards are not met, the employees will have the right to report the company to the relevant authorities. Hence make sure that the company is following the industry standards for the way the overtime works and how much compensation the employees are given for doing overtime work, how the breaks work and how much time is given for breaks, and also for the roster rules which define the way the employees are given their respective duties and on what time.
Employee Commute
The travel, vehicle, and uniform entitlements for each industry differ. A company where most employees reside in their hometown will not have to spend much on travel entitlements. However, a company hiring overseas labor will be required to give its workers the ability to visit their home countries.
Similarly, a company will be required to spend more on travel if the company is conducting business in a way that requires the employees to travel to other places for business operations. Hence make sure that your company has appropriate facilities to assist the employees when it comes to travel, vehicle, and uniform entitlements. This allows the workplace to function without any unnecessary disruptions.
Termination
Terminations are another critical issue when it comes to employee entitlements. An employee is entitled to getting a notice before termination in accordance with the industry standards and government regulations. Hence, it is important to make sure that the company has a strategy to allow notice to an employee before their termination and grant them fair final pay with severance if applicable. Not doing so will cause the employee to sue the company based on unfulfilled employee entitlement.
Harassment
Harassment, bullying, and discrimination in the workplace need to be appropriately addressed. Harassment is very disruptive to the workplace environment. In many developing countries, it is not even addressed or recognized. Doing so damages the company’s reputation, and they cannot fulfill their human resources needs.
A company should take care of such things by allowing the employees to report such individuals anonymously, who should then be investigated by a panel chosen by the company internally. It is important to make sure that such issues are dealt with internally within the company first so that its reputation is not damaged.
Discrimination
Discrimination should also be dealt with in a similar manner. It is important to make sure that the people responsible for hiring for positions in the company are not discriminating against its applicants based on race, creed, color, or caste. The applicants should be chosen blindly based on their merit. Many companies develop an approach that will not allow the people choosing the applicants to see their photos or names.
This prevents the existence of any bias when it comes to hiring applicants. If the employees are not protected from such disruptions, they will tend to attempt to deal with these matters externally. This is damaging to the reputation of the company. Hence make sure that the company has procedures in place to prevent such things from happening, and in case they happen, then they are dealt with quickly, and the perpetrators are punished accordingly.
These are some of the most important employee entitlement details. Deploying good HRMS software like SimplyHRMS is a must for managing employee entitlements without any loopholes.
