No benefits? No insurance? Does your job not offer anything to help you feel secure? Well, before going to the authorities, why not talk it out with your boss first? Sometimes, we complain before we even ask. And it makes one thing lead to another. Soon you find yourself stuck in a big mess you weaved together yourself – all because of bad communication.
Your boss may be hard to talk to, stubborn, or not very approachable. Nonetheless, that doesn’t automatically make him a heartless person. If you communicate your concerns in a clear and earnest manner, there is a pretty good chance he’ll stop to listen. Sometimes, it’s not that our bosses don’t care for our well-being. They’re just too busy to pay any mind. But if we give them a slight nudge, they might realize that their management is lacking in some aspects. So before branding your boss as a cheat, shark, or a completely unfair individual – communicate. For all you know, you may have been wrong for the longest time.
Today, we decided to list down some of the most effective approaches you can take in order to negotiate benefit funding with your boss. If you follow these approaches carefully, you should see pretty positive results soon. If you already have and nothing changes, well, we’re still here to help you settle the issue – LEGALLY.
Anyway, here are some approaches you can use to negotiate employee benefits with your boss:
Direct Conversation
Before you even try to take things up with the law, first remember that communication is VERY important. Many issues and problems escalate because people underestimate (or sometimes forget) the power of communication. When you want something, speak up. When you feel like you’re at a disadvantage, say it. Nothing good comes of keeping quiet and you won’t lose anything by expressing your views either. So if you feel like you’re not getting the benefits you deserve, talk directly to your boss. Although this may prove difficult, especially for bigger companies, but there are certainly ways to get the message across. Tap with the Human Resources Department, speak to your supervisor, or arrange a meeting with the manager. You may think that you can’t do any of these but we assure you – YOU CAN.
Get Fellow Employees On Board
Oftentimes, there is power in number. I’m not saying that you can never resolve things by yourself, but rather you can resolve things faster with more heads. When negotiations become successful, it wouldn’t just be you reaping the rewards you know. It will benefit everyone who is working for the company. So why not encourage your fellow employees to help with the negotiations? Requesting to hold a meeting or asking for an audience with the management will have more weight if more people are concerned. Are you hoping your company can provide health insurance, employee loans, or hospital support? If the nature of your work calls for it (e.g. work that involves exposure to many health or physical hazards like construction, mining, etc.), we’re positive that your boss will hear you out. Your boss may be your boss but certainly he or she isn’t heartless. And when you and your fellow colleagues can justify why there is a need for such benefit to be institutionalized, we’re quite hopeful that your boss will listen. All it takes is effective communication and rational thinking. If you think you deserve it and your job requires a certain benefit, then even if it’s not mandatory, you can definitely negotiate it with your company’s owner or CEO.
Make A Petition
If you belong to a very big company, rounding up all your colleagues to help you with the negotiations may be a tad difficult to do. After all, I don’t think you can schedule a meeting and talk it out with your boss all at once. It may turn out to be a riot, honestly. So instead of getting the whole gang together, you may opt to launch a petition instead. A petition, if you don’t know it yet, is similar to a written appeal. It’s a document that shows a list of individuals who signed to support a common cause. If you make a petition, you don’t have to gather everyone for the negotiations. You may choose to select a few, outspoken individuals to go with you and have the rest sign the request. This way, when you go in and try to explain why there is a need for a certain benefit, you will not only be carrying your own opinion. You will be carrying the opinion of many other colleagues. And that will give more weight to your request. After all, the management will realize that it is not only you who will become upset should the negotiations end in a sour note – they will be dealing with the distraught of hundreds of other employees.
Seek Legal Counsel
If negotiations fail and there’s no other method left to try, don’t worry. You still have one last recourse. And that is to seek legal counsel. Some employee benefits are voluntarily given by companies. This means that the law cannot intervene nor reprimand companies for not allowing you the same benefits. The only types of benefit the governing law can meddle with are mandated benefits – like Social Security and Worker’s Compensation. So should these benefits be abused or misused in your company, know that you can definitely take it up to court. Also, although the law do not require companies to grant employees benefits such as private health insurances, dental coverage, or other voluntary policies, the law does require fair distribution of such benefits. This means that if anyone in the company with the same categorical position as you is receiving additional benefits and privileges and you’re not, then the law may intervene – supposing that the cause of such differential treatment is unfair and unjust.