Decide what to pay, and be able to explain it.
A working guide to compensation for a small business without a comp team. Strategy, pay ranges, raises, bonuses and the payroll process, in the order you actually need them.
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Twelve chapters, in the order the questions come up.
Compensation goes wrong quietly. Someone finds out what someone else earns, or a good person leaves over a raise that was never scheduled. This is the whole thing written down so those conversations are settled before they happen.
Compensation Overview
Provides a high-level overview of compensation and its components, including base pay, bonuses, incentives, benefits, and equity, as well as the factors that influence compensation decisions.
Compensation Strategy
Covers the process of developing a compensation strategy that aligns with an organization's goals and values, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy.
External Equity
Focuses on understanding how an organization's compensation practices compare to those of similar organizations in the same industry or region, and how to use market data to make informed compensation decisions.
Internal Equity
Covers how to ensure that compensation within an organization is fair and equitable, including understanding job worth and using a compensation structure to set pay levels.
Pay Ranges
Focuses on how to establish pay ranges based on an organization's compensation strategy, market data, and internal equity considerations, and how to use pay ranges to set individual pay levels.
Base Pay and Performance-Based Pay
Covers the two primary forms of compensation - base pay and performance-based pay - and how to design and implement them effectively to motivate and reward employees.
Benefits
Focuses on the different types of benefits that organizations can offer to their employees, including healthcare, retirement plans, and other perks, and how to design a benefits program that aligns with an organization's compensation strategy and budget.
Pay Raises
Covers the different types of pay increases that organizations can offer to employees, including merit-based raises and cost-of-living adjustments, and how to design and implement a fair and effective pay raise process.
Bonuses
Covers the different types of bonuses that organizations can offer to employees, including performance-based bonuses, referral bonuses, and signing bonuses, and how to design and implement a bonus program that aligns with an organization's compensation strategy and business goals.
Pay Discrimination
Covers the legal and ethical considerations around ensuring fair and equitable compensation for all employees, including strategies for identifying and addressing pay disparities and staying in compliance with anti-discrimination laws.
Establishing Your Payroll Process
Covers the key steps and considerations for setting up an efficient and accurate payroll process, including determining pay periods, calculating employee pay, and staying in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
Timekeeping
Covers the importance of accurate and reliable timekeeping systems, best practices for tracking employee work hours, and strategies for addressing common timekeeping challenges such as employee tardiness and absenteeism.
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