In 3–4 pages, draft and justify a basic benefits plan for a start-up company of fewer than 100 employees. By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:Competency 3: Create a base benefit plan.Describe a complete benefits package for a company that would attract highly qualified candidates.Determine an appropriate cost target for a benefits package as a percentage of the total compensation package.Describe trends affecting a selected cost target.Analyze the potential for discrimination in a selected benefits plan.Describe the impact and issues that might arise from unintended discrimination in a selected benefits plan.Explain the advantages and disadvantages of administering a selected benefits plan in a small employer environment.Competency 4: Evaluate effective incentives and perks programs.Describe business competition in the community and the competitive factors involved in attracting employees.Explain how the benefits plan will help retain and motivate the workforce.Competency 5: Analyze the effects of laws and regulatory agencies on compensation and benefits strategies.Explain how to ensure a selected benefits plan will meet legal requirements.ContextHistorically, unions fought hard for pay and benefits for their members. Companies and the government realized that a certain base level of benefits was essential to a healthy national workforce, as well as to a well-funded retired workforce. As demographics and economics shifted in every direction, benefits issues began to become as important as pay issues for ensuring an effective contract between employer and employee.Fewer than 40 years ago, benefits accounted for approximately one-fourth of payroll. Today, many companies budget benefits at 40 percent of payroll or even more, which is a huge number to fund and manage for any size company (Gerhart & Newman 2020).ReferenceGerhart, B. & Newman, J. M. (2020). Compensation (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Questions to ConsiderTo deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.Years ago the personnel manager and staff handled employee questions and managed the administration of employee benefits. Today, most companies have decided to outsource their benefit administration to third-party vendors. What is your opinion about this? Is the 1-800 number a better solution? Does it ensure more privacy for the employee? Or, is the 1-800 number impersonal, thus making the relationship between employer and employee more distant? ResourcesSuggested ResourcesThe following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.Library ResourcesThe following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course:Miller, L. L., & Miller, J. E. (2003). Designing your health benefit plan. Employee Benefits Journal, 28(1), 41–47.Hansen, K. E. (2009). 10 ways to contain employee-benefit costs. Advisor Today, 104(4), 26.Course Library GuideA Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the BUS-FP4043 – Compensation and Benefits Management Library Guide to help direct your research.Bookstore ResourcesGerhart, B. & Newman, J. M. (2020). Compensation (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.Assessment InstructionsGiven what you know about benefits plans and options, as well as costs and factors for designing a benefits plan, draft a basic plan for a start-up company of fewer than 100 employees in your local community. In your plan, include the following:Describe the benefits options you will offer along with the cost of these options. Explain why you chose these options.Explain which of the benefits you selected would be considered standard, which are unique for your industry, and which would attract highly qualified candidates.Describe your company's competition in your community, and describe strategies to manage the competitive factors that are at play for attracting employees.Determine an appropriate cost target as a percentage of the total compensation package for your total benefits package, as well as the process to determine the cost target. What trends will have an effect on your cost target?Explain how your plan will affect retention and motivation of the workforce. Propose a review plan to maintain a competitive benefits package into the future.Explain how you will ensure that your plan meets legal requirements now and into the future.Will any of your benefits show an unintended preference for people of a certain age, gender, marital status, or number of dependents? Describe the impact and any issues that might arise from this. Suggest best practices to avoid discrimination resulting from the plan.Explain whether you would be able to administer the plan in a small employer environment. What are the advantages and disadvantages of administering the plan in a small employer environment? How might the company leverage the advantages and manage the disadvantages?Additional RequirementsLength: Your plan should be 3–4 double-spaced pages.APA style and formatting: Be sure to cite all outside resources used in your assessment in proper APA (6th edition) format.

By performing research in CSU-Global Library and citing your sources, identify and describe five leadership skills. Explain how each leadership skill is applicable somewhere in the following Planning Phase Project Management situation:On May 1, the PM of a computer system upgrade project sets up a synchronous Webex meeting with the project team for May 15. Each team member has been assigned the task of estimating the duration and identifying the precedence relationships associated with a set of tasks in the WBS. This information will be used to convert the WBS into a project schedule. In the May 15 meeting, each team member is to review his or her assigned tasks, explaining the forecast and precedence relationships for each one and the rationale. In the meeting, Sue joins the meeting from Connecticut in the same conference room as the PM, who hosts the meeting. She is prepared with all of her assigned tasks estimated and precedence relationships between her assigned tasks and other tasks--both within her assigned set of tasks and from the larger set of projects associated with the entire project--identified. She is able to clearly convey her rationale and analysis approach.Ronald joins from a business unit in California. He has not yet started the work and has nothing to present. He explains that he did not fully understand the purpose of the meeting. Lily joins from China. She indicates that she has been overloaded and was able to estimate the task durations, but not the precedence relationships. It also appears that Lily may not understand what is meant by “precedence relationships.” It is a bit of a struggle to understand Lily’s English.Mark joins later from Toulouse, France and indicates that he was confused about the time of the meeting, given that he is in a different time zone, and also that his manager has assigned him to another project so he is no longer to work on this project.Your paper should be 4-5 pages in length and conform to CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements. Include at least two scholarly references in addition to the course textbooks. The CSU-Global Library is a good place to find these references.

Contingency Planning Paper Address the following items: Assume that you have been hired by a small veterinary practice to help them prepare a contingency planning document. The practice has a small LAN with four computers and Internet access. Prepare a list of threat categories and the associated business impact for each. Identify preventive measures for each type of threat category. Include at least one major disaster in the plan. Prepare a 350- to 1,050-word paper that fully discusses the topic questions Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.