SECTION 5
COMPENSATION CONCEPTS
The total compensation of any employed
individual or the total payroll cost of an employee is made
up of two major segments — salary and benefits. Payroll
costs do not include office space, secretarial help, insurance
etc., which are created or added to when an employee is
on or added to the payroll.
Salary is also made up of two parts - regular
salary and overtime compensation (some employers do not
provide overtime compensation). Figure
13 summarizes data
obtained from the 2003 Employer Salary Survey regarding
overtime compensation.
The benefit segment is made up of two parts
- the time-not-worked benefits and what might be called
the general benefits. Details of what is included in each
segment are provided in Employee Benefits which follow.
The percentage (of the total compensation)
proportions given in Figure
14 are averages which reflect
values for 2003. No given company (or employee) will exactly
match these.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
There is a wide variation of practice and
opinion as to what should be classed as an employee benefit.
The definitions described below have been used in this publication.
1. Quoted Yearly Salary or Base Salary
Pay for time worked at normal rates plus the
cost of the time-not-worked benefits. Quoted yearly salary
does not include payment of overtime.
2. General Benefits
A payment by the employer to the employee
directly or to a third party on behalf of the employee to
secure for the employee, an advantage or protection of benefit
to the employee.
Provision by the employer or the making available
of (at no or reduced cost) some facility, object or service
of benefit to the employer.
(a) Cash Benefit Payments made by the employer
on behalf of the employee for:
i) pension or superannuation provisions.
ii) a hospital, medical, dental, sickness, disability, life,
income maintenance, etc., plan.
iii) the Canada Pension Plan, Unemployment Insurance, Workers'
Compensation plans (compulsory in Alberta).
iv) termination or severance pay, the premium portion of
premium pay, relocation assistance.
(b) No Cash Benefit Provision by the employer,
at no or reduced cost to the employee, of: recreation facilities
and/or equipment, food, lodging, loans, parking, transportation,
educational opportunities, discounts on company products,
etc. 3. Time-Not-Worked Benefits
(payments made by the employer to the employee for time
not worked)
This is included as part of the Quoted Yearly
Salary.
(a) For Monthly or Yearly Paid Employees:
Time off from work (the employee does not have to be at
the place of work), or periods when the employee is at work
but not working and for which there is no reduction to the
quoted yearly salary.
(b) For Hourly Paid Workers:
Payments in lieu of holiday days and vacation days.
(c) Holiday Days
Includes the nine statutory (also called general) holidays
in Alberta and declared holidays which may be declared by
federal, provincial or municipal authorities (but they become
a work holiday only if the employer so declares).
i) Statutory Holidays: New Year's Day, Family Day, Good
Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving
Day, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day.
ii) Declared Holidays: Boxing Day and Heritage
Day.
(d) Vacation Days
(e) Other Days and/or Periods Sick Leave
not covered by 2 (a)ii, travel time, clean-up time, rest
and/or coffee periods, personal leave (jury duty, voting,
bereavement, maternity, paternity, etc.).
EMPLOYER SALARY SURVEY COMPENSATION DATA
The APEGGA survey collected additional information
on other compensation provided to employees. (see Figures
13, 14 and 15). This data indicated 98% of the organizations
provide a comprehensive benefits package which includes
dental, drug, long-term disability, life/accident insurance
and medical plans. At least 74% of employers offered some
form of pension plan.
Additional cash compensation was disbursed
to approximately 42% of the engineers, 82% of the geologists
and 87% of the geophysicists. Figures 15 reports other details
on cash compensation.
Information from the survey pertaining
to weekly hours of work and overtime compensation are reported
in Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15. Vacation entitlement data
is report in Figure 16.
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