Salaries & Compensation

Fringe benefits are compensation offered to employees in addition to their hourly wage or salary. Common examples of fringe benefits include health insurance, life insurance, tuition assistance, and employee discounts. Some companies will offer benefits that reflect the business or its industry. For example, an athletic gear retailer may subsidize gym memberships and host in-office fitness classes. Not all employees at the same company are offered the same benefits; some may be reserved for executives or upper-management. Companies use fringe benefits to attract and retain talent.

An employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) is a company-run program in which enrolled employees use after-tax payroll deductions to purchase their company’s stock, often at a discount. During the offering period, the employer withholds a certain amount of money from its employee’s paychecks. That money is then used to purchase discounted stock, which is transferred to the employee to keep or sell as they please. Some ESPPs have look-back provisions, which allow the fair market value of the stock to be either the price at the beginning or end of the offering period, whichever is less.

The glass ceiling is a concept referring to barriers that prevent minority or otherwise disadvantaged groups from being promoted into managerial and executive positions. It’s called the “glass” ceiling because the barriers these groups encounter are real (de facto) but easy to overlook or deny the existence of because they are not sanctioned by principle or policy (de jure). The phrase was originally coined in reference to the difficulties women face in the corporate workplace, but the meaning has since expanded to encompass other minority groups.

A retention bonus is a lump sum payment offered to a top-level or key employee as an incentive to remain with a company. This type of bonus is often issued in extraordinary circumstances, like during restructuring or a particularly demanding project, as a way to ensure the company keeps the resources it needs to complete the undertaking. Employers may also offer retention bonuses to employees they cannot afford to be poached.