HR and Benefits for Employees Worldwide

Introduction

In recent decades, developments have taken place in the world.  There has been a continued change in organizational and industrial environment. These changes are challenging organizations to grow and survive in today’s business environment.   Multinational organizations are increasing their global presence.  The United States in not the exception.  We have witnessed how companies such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart have expanded their operation around the world.

According to the article The challenge of Globalization for HR, this global trend is affecting also human resources (Balthazar, 2011).  “The human resource function faces many challenges during the globalization   process, including creating a global mind-set within the HR group, creating practices that will be consistently applied in different locations/offices while also maintaining the various local cultures and practices, and communicating a consistent corporate culture across the entire organization” (Rioux. M, Bernthal. P & Wellins.R,  2012).

Some of the main challenges for HR according to the article The Globalization of Human Resource Practices (Rioux. M, Bernthal. P & Wellins.R, 2012) are: (1) Different locations/offices have their own way of doing things and are resistant to change, and (2) The perceived value of the HR function varies across locations/offices.  However, the main concern is the variations in social, political, and economic circumstances.  

Some of the HR areas affected by globalization are benefits and legislations from other countries. Human resources professionals need to be prepared to face challenges by increasing their knowledge in international human resource practices and government policies that can affect the business operations.  

This paper studied four countries: United Kingdom, Chile, Portugal, and United States.  This study focuses on government laws directly related to work and the family. This includes laws and regulations that recognized the importance of families to society. Some of the laws covered in this paper are: Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave, Parental Leave, Adoption Leave, Feeding benefits between others.

The role and responsibility of government in reconciling the family-work conflict vary in countries. Unfortunately, the United Stated is behind in this type of legalization compared to the rest of the world.  Kathy Gurchiek (2007) in her article U.S. trails other countries in worker-friendly policies states: “168 out of 173 countries studied guarantee paid maternal leave, but the United States, Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea do not” (http://www.shrm.org/Publications/HRNews/Pages/CMS_020441.aspx)

In short, the United States is the only developed country in the world that does not offer paid maternity leave and other paid parental benefits.

The article Family-Friendly Policy: Lessons from Europe-Part II (Widerner A, 2008), provides statistical information about other countries and family-friendly policies offered to their employees:

• 45 countries ensure that fathers either receive paid paternity leave or have a right to paid parental leave. The United States guarantees fathers neither paid paternity nor paid parental leave.
• At least 76 countries protect working women's right to breastfeed; the U.S. does not, in spite of the fact that breastfeeding has been shown to reduce infant mortality several-fold.
• In fact, nearly two-thirds of these countries protect breastfeeding for 15 months or longer. Nearly nine out of ten protect this right for at least a year.
• At least 96 countries around the world in all geographic regions and at all economic levels mandate paid annual leave. The U.S. does not require employers to provide paid annual leave.
• At least 37 countries have policies guaranteeing parents some type of paid leave specifically for when their children are ill. Of these countries, two-thirds guarantee more than a week of paid leave, and more than one-third guarantee 11 or more days.
• 139 countries provide paid leave for short- or longterm illnesses, with 117 providing a week or more annually. The U.S. provides only unpaid leave for serious illnesses through the FMLA, which does not cover all workers.
• 40 countries have government-mandated evening and night wage premiums. The U.S. does not.
• At least 98 countries require employers to provide a mandatory day of rest: a period of at least 24 hours off each week. The U.S. does not guarantee workers this weekly break.
• 42 countries guarantee leave for major family events; in 37 of these countries, the leave is paid.

While some companies, organizations and institutions are aware of the necessity of family-friendly policies, and they offer paid benefits to facilitate a family and work balance, legislation is an appropriate tool to fulfill family necessities and work obligations. Unless the United States passes more family-friendly legislation, it will not compete as a family-friendly nation.

Maternity Leave

UNITED KINGDOM

The rights apply to UK citizen women and legally working women in the country are found in the Employment Rights Act 1996 and 2002, the Employment Relations Act 1999, and the Work and Families Act 2006.

All women are entitle to maternity leave independent of  the hours she has worked for her employer or for how many days she has worked for the employer.  Statutory Maternity Leave is 52 weeks. This is divided into two periods.  First,  Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) which is the first 26 weeks of the maternity leave.  Second, Additional Maternity Leave (AML) which is the last 26 weeks after OML is over. It's sum is a total of 52 weeks under the Statutory Maternity Leave. The leave should begin 11 weeks before childbirth, but the employee has the right to decide when stop working.  In this case, the employer can intervene in the process and start the maternity leave if the employee is ill or absent due to the pregnancy; or if the child is birth before the expected date.

Once Ordinary Maternity Leave or  Additional Maternity Leave are finished, the employee has the right to return to her job.  If her job is not available for any reason, the employer must offer a suitable alternative  job with conditions, terms, and payment similar to her original job.

On the other hand, the employee has the responsibility to give notice that she is pregnant no later than the 15th week before her due date. The notice not only must state that she is pregnant, but also must state the due date of the birth of the child and the beginning date to begin the maternity leave.  Once the employer is notified,  the employee cannot be discharged either during her maternity leave or pregnancy.

During the maternity leave, the employee is entitled to all the benefits that she would receive during regular work days, except for the salary. Beside, The employer cannot discriminate against a woman during her maternity leave.  The employee must have the same  opportunities for a raise or promotion as would any other worker employed by the company.

Maternity Leave Payment

The UK has two ways for a woman to claim payment during her maternity leave:  Statutory maternity (SMP),Maternity Allowance (MA), or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

SMP starts the first day the employee takes the leave and consist of 39 weeks of payment, 90% of her average salary for the first six weeks and 90% of the average salary or £136.78 (the lower one) during the next 33 weeks.  Taxes and insurance are deducted. According to the Maternity Action Organization, these are the condition to qualify for SMP:

        " You have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of         the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (which is approximately         the 26th week of pregnancy). In other words you need to have started the job         before you got pregnant, and you are still in your job in the 15th week before         your baby is due – even if it’s only for one day that week - or you are off sick         or on holiday, and you actually receive at least £109 per week on average in         the eight weeks (if you are paid weekly) or two months (if you are paid         monthly) up to the last pay day before the end of the 15th week before your         baby is due".

Week 11th before the due day is the earliest that the SMP can start. Usually maternity leave and SMP starts together.  However, if the employee decides to continue working and suffers an pregnancy related illness  during the four weeks before the due date, SMP starts the day after the illness notification.  Same situation if the baby born before the due date.

If  the woman doesn't qualify for SMP, she may be eligible for  Maternity Allowance.  The benefit consist of  £135.45 a week for 39 weeks. Woman can request MA if she has worked for at least 26 weeks of the 66 weeks before the due date of the baby. MA can be start to be paid 11 weeks before the childbirth, but it can be claimed 15 weeks before the due date.

...