Employee Benefits Design and Planning: A Guide to Understanding Accounting, Finance, and Tax Implications

1. Setting the Stage

Aims and objectives of this chapter:

• Set the stage for the discussions in the book

• Address the concept of employee benefits

• Present various categories of employee benefits

• Discuss the employee benefit environment

• Discuss the strategic considerations in designing employee benefit programs

• Explain the integrated system approach to plan employee benefits

• Discuss the cost dimension of employee benefits

At their inception, employee benefits were considered “fringe benefits,” a mere afterthought to cash wages. Employers who were concerned about their employees’ welfare, of their own accord, handed out “fringes” to them. As time has gone by, however, these benefits have evolved into a significant portion of a worker’s ...