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Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Answers to In-Text Questions
Chapter 13: Managing Benefits
Providing Benefits to Gig Workers at Care.com
Case discussion questions:
1. What type of benefit did Care.com introduce for its gig workers? Why?
Care.com added family-friendly benefits such as the ability to connect with
care, educational, and transportation expenses.
2. In addition to offsetting health care, educational, and transportation expenses, what
other benefits could Care.com provide to its gig workers? What types of benefits
would be most valuable to gig workers?
In addition to offering up to $500, Care.com could offer a group health insurance
benefits with other businesses.
3. What effect might gig workers’ ability to unionize have on their access to benefits?
The ability of gig workers to unionize might provide access to benefits gig workers
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
4. In your opinion, in the future, will gig workers receive greater access to benefits or
will societal expectations of benefits change such that gig workers no longer expect
access to employer-sponsored benefits? Why?
Responses will vary. Gig workers might have more access to benefits, but not
Spotlight on Ethics: Making Changes to Health Insurance Plans
Questions:
1. In your opinion, to what extent are employers ethically obligated to provide employer-
sponsor health insurance for their workers? Give examples to support your answer.
Responses will vary by students. Some may feel that this should be optional. They may
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
2. In the scenario described, is there a way the company’s HR administrators might have
intervened after the new five-tiered system was implemented to prevent employees from
leaving due to reduced take-home pay?
HR had several options. They could have done a bit of analysis before implementing this
Mini-Case Analysis Exercise: Communicating the Value of Benefits
Questions:
1. What can Trident Health System do to improve how it communicates benefits to job
candidates? What about current employees?
Benefits are only important to those who understand them and use them. While new
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
2. What communications methods would you recommend that Trident Health System use to
communicate the value of its benefits offerings? Why?
Employee websites, schedule locations, and paychecks can all be used to share
generate a list of creative options.
3. What data-collection method(s) can the HR leaders use to determine which benefits
employees (a) say they want and (b) which ones they actually utilize?
Students can develop a list of several data collection methods including interviews,
HR Decision Analysis Exercise: Unintended Consequences?
Please provide the rationale for your answer to each of the questions below.
Is this decision legal, ethical, and fair?
The decision is legal and ethical but might not be fair. Employees who are typically healthy
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Is it evidence based/evidence informed?
There is a lot of evidence-based data to support the cost of the new plan. This has to now be
Does it foster healthy employee–employer relationships?
This appears to work toward improving employee–employer relationships. The employer is
Is it timely and cost-effective?
It is both timely and cost-effective for the employer but may be less so for an employee who will
Does it take a systematic stakeholder perspective?
This new plan appears to consider the systematic stakeholder perspective. While not all
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Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
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Considering your analysis above, overall, do you think this would be an effective decision? Why
or why not?
This appears to be an effective decision. Again, it considers the needs of all employees and
What, if anything, do you think should be done differently or considered to help make this
decision more effective?
One thing that might be done differently is to offer employees their choice of plans. This is based
HR Decision-Making Exercise: Paid Parental Leave at Jembe Banks
1. Legally, does the company have to provide paid parental leave? Explain.
Legally, the company does not have to provide paid parental leave. They do have to
2. If the company decides to provide paid parental leave, how many weeks of paid leave
should the company provide? Why?
Responses will vary by student. Some countries provide up to 1 year for both parents at
3. Should the company provide the same amount of paid parental leave to mothers and
fathers alike? Why or why not?
Responses will vary by student. Many will focus on the needs of the mother. Childbirth is
4. Should a mother and father who are both employed by Jembe be allowed to take their
paid leave concurrently? Why or why not?
While students might have a variety of opinions, they need to consider this issue as it
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
