Tessa Iversen· Compensation Manager, Lumen Biosciences
Asked in Global & Mobility ·
I am the only rewards specialist at a humanitarian organisation with about 3,100 staff, 85% of them nationally hired in 40 countries, including South Sudan, Bangladesh, Jordan and Colombia. Benefits have grown up office by office. Life cover ranges from nothing to four times salary, and paid maternity leave from 8 weeks to 26.
Our board has asked for a minimum standard everywhere: life and disability cover, medical for staff and dependants, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave. Donors fund us by project and some cap benefit costs.
Has anyone implemented a floor like this on a tight budget, and where did you compromise?
13 helpful · 3 insightful · 3 replies · 218 views · 6 following
Compensation Consultant, Tidewater Utilities
We did it across 34 countries. The cheapest and most valued part was life and disability, which we pooled into one global group policy at twice annual salary for everyone. It cost about 0.6% of payroll and replaced 20 local policies. I would start there because it is quick and visible.
Senior Compensation Analyst, Bellwether Consulting
Medical is where the money goes and where a single standard does not travel. In several of our countries there is no insurer who will cover dependants at a price a project budget can bear. We defined the floor as an outcome, meaning access to inpatient and maternity care for staff, spouse and up to four children, and let each office meet it by insurance, a self-funded scheme or a clinic contract.
Maya ChenWWP
Compensation Manager, Halcyon Financial Group
On leave, our compromise was 16 weeks for the birth parent everywhere, since leave has no cash premium, but we underestimated cover costs in small field offices where one absence is a quarter of the team. Budget for backfill or the policy will be resented by the colleagues left behind.
