Dental Assistant - Compensation and Benefits Plan

Memorandum

Date: June 27, 2011

To: Managing Director

From: Human Resources Department

Subject: Re: Compensation and Benefits Plan

Compensation Proposal

According to the information obtained from different websites (salary.com, cbsalary.com and dentalassistantjobtraining.com); the compensation package for the dental assistant may vary depending on location, experience, certifications, and hours to be worked. For the position that we propose, we recommend for Human Resources to follow these guidelines considering the economic capabilities of the employer and the potential of creating an attractive workplace for the candidates.

Based on the information gathered we believe that the data obtained from

salary.com more aligns with the company budget and offers attractive and realistic benefits. The

data shows monetary and non-monetary benefits and the percentage that each benefit represents

for the total compensation package:

Benefit Median Amount % of Total

Base Salary $32,808 66.4%

Bonuses $0 0.0%

Social Security $2,510 5.1%

401k / 403b $1,247 2.5%

Disability $230 0.5%

Healthcare $6,507 13.2%

Pension $2,100 4.2%

Time Off $4,038 8.2%

Total $49,438

100%

Rationale for the Approach

According to Cascio (2010), the whole idea of the plan is to have the employee believe that the compensation plan is fair and equitable. According to Weathington and Jones (2006) Benefits have the potential to influence not only employee attraction to the organization but also employee satisfaction, motivation, performance, commitment to the organization, attendance, and retention. As for the employer, the need to have a compensation and benefits plan that exceeds average market practices for the performers and adheres to the organization's policies and strategies is crucial. In this case, the above-mentioned compensation and benefits plan meets the requirements mentioned.

Our approach followed the guidelines mentioned by Cascio (2010) that are simple,

specific, attainable, and measurable. In addition, we have taken into consideration the labor

market conditions, legislation, collective bargaining, and our ability to pay. Furthermore, the

good thing about our proposal is that management may choose to shift to market-based pay or

competency-based pay if management has other views, keeping in mind that compensation in

this particular case conforms well to pay patterns in the relevant labor market. Moreover, we

have based our benefits plan on the amounts given in the latest financial budget in an attempt to

avoid excessive costs and keep the employee's motivations high, thus resulting in more

production at work (Weathington, 2008). Last, we have taken adequacy, equity, cost control,

and balance into consideration while putting the compensation and benefits plan together.

Possible obstacles in compensation package and benefits plan

The