Custom «Walmart Compensation Plan» Essay Paper

Compensation Plans allow for companies to retain and recruit present and future employees. Ultimately, the goal of any compensation plan is to create a successful culture for the future. A personally designed Compensation Plan will be presented for Wal-mart using the China stores and its employees union to meet the needs and future of the employees and this company.

First, a compensation plan is simply a way to bring in and keep employees who will be of long term benefit so that a company can grow and maintain a successful status. However, employers must find ways to create a compensation plan that will achieve this. Payscale.com has three simple steps for the creation of a compensation plan. First, determine where the rest of the market sits in terms of compensation. Second, each company should compare its work to the rest of the market. Third, once the comparison has been made of each employees work, make their compensation line up with their work and the market. (Payscale.com)

In compensation, one thing is found to be affective across the board when discussing successful design of compensation plans. Incentive pay no matter how it relates to the performance is what drives a great deal of employees (Carlson, 2006). No matter if the income is high but without bonuses, or is low but includes the possibility of performance, money speaks to employees (Carlson, 2006). So, knowing money speaks, Wal-Mart will need to take the three steps stated above to begin analyzing itself for its position in the market. Once that is complete, it will be possible to see how to proceed with a compensation plan.

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In the case of Wal-Mart, the employees of its China based stores became unionized. This is an important note since in the United States; Wal-Mart is 30% below the national intake for unionized employees (Miller, 2006). Other weakness that Wal-Mart currently possess are that it also pays slightly less than ten dollars and hour and that number is nearly 13% less than the competitors average (Miller, 2006). Possibly, this explains why only two thirds of all new hires last less than a year. (Miller) Being that Wal-Mart does in fact how over all less wages being paid out, it also causes a 3.5% decrease in cities where a their stores are located because other companies around them are forced to also drop their overall prices secondarily affecting wages (Miller, 2006). Although this is good for the consumer, it becomes a constant drag to the employees of Wal-Mart and also employees all over those same cities. This means lower wages and quite possibly fewer jobs in these affected cities (Miller, 2006).

Although ten dollars an hour is below the rate of many of its competitor's average, it is in fact nearly double the going minimum wage rate (Miller, 2006). Yet another advantage to Wal-Mart's minimal benefits is that it does in fact drive down prices all around town which is great news to any consumer (Miller, 2006). In review, it appears that Wal-Mart has found a lower wage which they can hire at, and because of it are also able to reduce objects at low cost. Further, this savings can then be easily applied to the one-third turn over during the first year of all new employees (Miller, 2006).

The problems Wal-Mart faces are furthered by a unionization of its employees in China. But where as positive results come from some negative aspects of American's Wal-Mart due to its trade mark low prices, even less positive can be seen in China. In China, the Communist Party does not allow for multiple in-house unions reducing competition, often has pre-determined leadership with the unions, and also will be likely to side for management than the very employees who are unionized for protection (Johnson, 2006). Even so, the benefits in the Union are solid reason for joining. Chinese employees are offered retirement benefits, medical insurance to include leave for both new fathers and mothers, and even paid leave (Johnson, 2006). Although Chinese employees have little choice who to side with, if and when they do choose to join the Union, they will be have better benefits than their counterparts in the United States.

In most states, the employees are required to alert their employer of any work-related injury within a specific time period subsequent to the accident. Usually, the employers are required to keep injuries' records which are then reported to the workers' compensation board, and then to the company's insurer within the set period of time. If a legal responsibility is received, a competition notice payable is issued to the employee. After the employer has been alerted of a work-related injury, states demand the employer to inform or report the injury to its insurance carrier within the specified time given. In Wisconsin, for instance, the insured employers should report any injury claim to insurance carrier within seven days.

While the self-insured employers and insurance carriers, must report their resulting injuries within four or more. If a disability lasts for more than three days, the insurer has to file the "first report of injury" form with the Department of Labor and Industry. Then the insurer then has the obligation to investigate claims and if any claim is accepted, the insurer gets 14 days from the day the employer was alerted of the injury to commence paying the workers' compensation benefits. Basically, the workers' compensation systems are controlled in the state by the commission or board accountable for ensuring there is fully compliance with the laws upon investigating and handling of the disputed workers' compensation claims.

Wal-Mart works its workers' compensation system through the Claims Management Inc., a totally owned subsidiary of the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. To become self-insured, the employers have to meet certain prerequisites. Wal-Mart has failed the system by unreasonably delaying paying of lawful benefits and by challenging the clearly lawful workers' compensation claims (Miller, 2006).

The competence with which the system is supposed to operate, is what the workers' compensation process depends on and the Wal-Mart coming up short. The no-fault system has been meant to ensure that workers get adequate medical attention, and the required compensation, while insulating the employers from private lawsuits. A well coordinated effort between the employer and employee, the physician and insurance representative dictate a quicker recovery time for employees and lower charges to the state. For the injured workers who do not receive timely advantages or even fight the Wal-Mart through every step, of the legal process, often end up trapped in financial debt. They are then compelled into public help for healthcare, unemployment benefits among others. The injured workers may seek to shun legal systems altogether as the attorney costs may enhance the claim costs by 12 to 15 percent.

As a general matter, employers like Wal-Mart have financial concern in convincing employees in resolving of their injury claims, outside the workers' compensation system. In case any of the injured worker files a state workers' compensation claim, the Wal-Mart pays 100% of those expenses, if the claim is not successful, the Wal-Mart may persuade the workers to propose medical bills to a health insurance carrier, which they generally pay much. Over half of Wal-Mart employees are covered by insurance with the exception of Wal-Mart insurance or with no insurance at all. In that case, the Wal-Mart pays nothing if it can convince its workers to seek payment for injuries via other means other than the workers' compensation claim (Carlson, 2006).

Time after time, Wal-Mart has shown its unwillingness to operate its workers' compensation program, as required by the current state laws. Wal-Mart has emphasized that incidents like those described above, are not representative of their workers' compensation program as a whole, yet most of the cases from across the country propose the problems with Wal-Mart's workers' compensation policies to be pervasive whether formal or informal. When contesting and failing to pay out on legitimate claims or intimidating workers who seek to file the claims and retaliating upon those who do. Wal-Mart usually enforces its employees with legitimate claims in the fight via every step of the legal process only to receive the compensation they correctly deserve (Hulme, 2006).

In the interim, workers frequently have to turn to public support in order to receive health care and make up for lost the wages and support of their families. The State of Washington scrutinized Wal-Mart's practices, when it became apparent that they were contesting the outstanding number of what were found to be genuine claims though Similar complaints led to reviews in California. The sheer number of confronts to workers' compensation declares the filed by Wal-Mart in the Maine put state officials on the note that Wal-Mart treats its injured workers in a different manner in regard compared to other employers do. The class action lawsuit filed in Oklahoma, could eventually go beyond the state's borders. Although in a small sample of states, those egregious examples raised serious questions whether it was a nationwide epidemic.

With no states holding the similar rigorous reporting necessities as Maine, it is tricky to quantify the numbers of employees who found that their on-the-job injury was only a precursor, to the lengthy and frustrating claims process, with Wal-Mart (Carlson, 2006). To the state's credit, the achievement of Maine's workers' compensation system has indicated the impact, that a well constructed monitoring and enforcement program, could have. In Maine, Wal-Mart has enhanced its compliance and has vigorously worked with the state to continue its development. Reviewing audits in Washington, Maine and California, Maine leaves the small doubt that Wal-Mart and its personal insurer, Claims Management, Inc., seem to have difficulty complying with the workers' compensation prerequisite across the country (Hulme, 2006). Whether the compliance issues stem from Wal-Mart's perseverance on management of its workers' compensation program, out of its home state of Arkansas, or from a policy of assertively fighting workers' compensation claims, the achievement of simple monitoring and reporting measures, could start to curb the Wal-Mart's all-out denial of alleges and help injured workers commence to receive the payments they deserve.