Employee Benefits: Plain and Simple: the Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Your Benefits Plan

A guide to selecting an employee benefits package discusses getting the most out of what is offered and choosing benefits to suit individual needs

The authors, both financial planners and managers, present a useful, thorough manual of employee benefits. Their survey comes at an appropriate time, since the benefit picture many employers offer now provide choices in lieu of the set cradle-to-grave coverages of the past. The authors explore in some detail the facts concerning these choices, with tips on specific possibilities and a comparison of various alternatives. Chapters examine employee benefits generally and the flexible, health, and dollar aspects of the coverages in particular, as well specific instruments like 401Ks, mutual funds, IRAs, annuities, etc. Benefits in the areas of insurance, government, retirement pensions, family, and law are compared with recommendations. This is a solid choice for public, special, and academic libraries.
- Littleton M. Maxwell, Robins Sch. of Business, Univ. of Richmond, Va.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jenks and Zevnik are chairman and editor in chief, respectively, at the Alexander Hamilton Institute, a 90-year-old publishing house devoted to disseminating management information to executives. Their straightforward guide explains various employee benefit options and targets not the benefits plan administrator but rather the individual employee. They identify three categories of benefits: mandated (social security, workers' compensation, etc.), time-oriented (vacation, holidays, etc.), and supplementary (insurance, bonuses, etc.). Included is a wide range of possibilities, such as home purchase assistance, child care, postretirement counseling, and country club memberships. The authors provide information with which to understand and evaluate the various benefits for the employee who might have questions or for those with the opportunity to choose among or negotiate for various benefit alternatives. David Rouse