Discussion 1.1 Employee Benefits

Upon completion of the Required Readings, write a thorough, well-planned narrative answer to the following discussion question. Rely on your Required Readings and the Lecture and Research Update for specific information to answer the discussion question, but turn to your original thoughts when asked to apply, evaluate, analyze, or synthesize the information. Your Discussion Question response should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the question itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your responses and document in a bibliography using APA style.

Discussion Question 1 (25 points)

In reviewing the development of employee benefits in the US, we stated that legally required benefits resulted from the notion that employers would not provide fair and equitable treatment to their employees without being legally required to do so. Yet most companies do provide very comprehensive discretionary benefits to their employees. How do you reconcile this apparent contradiction? Your response should differentiate between legally required and discretionary benefits and the role that they play in providing coverage to employees.  (A 1½-page response is required.)