Jc Penny Compensation and Benefits Research Paper

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Personal benefits are offered to associates to help balance work and home life and attract and retain employees. The benefits provided includes, commuter benefits which gives a discount to associates who use for example, public transportation to commute to and from work, associate discount program that provides a discount of 15% to 25% depending on the payment type used to purchase JCP merchandise and services (JCPenny’s benefits 2016 annual enrollment), and adoption assistance, which may reimburse up to $5000 in adoption fees (JC Penny 2013 benefits guide). These benefits are available immediately and to both part-time and full-time associates. To reduce absenteeism, promote positive attitudes, and commitment to the company, paid time off is offered to employees. JCP offers my time off (MTO) to associates to use for time needed off from work for example, personal reasons or vacation. MTO is calculated as follows:

- Average Week x MTO weeks factor = Annual MTO hours

- Annual MTO hours/12 = the monthly MTO hours deposited

MTO is available to full-time employees soon after being hired and is accumulated in a MTO bank and available for use (JCPenny’s 2013 benefits guide). Corporate employees who work at the home office in Dallas Texas has access to personal benefits in-store associates do not. They have access to daycares, clinics, Wal-greens pharmacy, fitness centers, cafeteria, subway restaurant, coffee shops, and a 24hr market, all of which are on-site (jobs.jcp.com/corporate). Although, according to Dallas Business Journal, JCP is in the process of selling the 1.8 million square feet home office and then leasing 1.2 million square feet from the buyer, the benefits provided to corporate employees will most likely stay in place ("Exclusive: Developer Renames J.C. Penny's Campus's to Market Land, Corporate Space").

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Once the company is financially stable it is recommended JC Penny build their image by becoming a more employee focused company. Because, they have recently undergone management changes and restructure of the company to deal with decreases in sales and stock downturns. They have closed 40 stores across the country, in-store associates have been laid off or hours reduced to part-time, as a result many associates have loss access to benefits (Why It's a Bad Time to Work at JCPenny/time.com). To further cut cost JCP, benefits previously provided to part-time and full-time employees are no longer available. Not only are hours being cut and benefits loss, there is not much career advancements. It is recommended JCP transition into employee focused approach to attract and retain valuable associates. Building the positive perception of the company to potential applicants by marketing JCP as employee focused will ultimately attract and retain.

In Conclusion, JC Penny’s states that it is their mission to attract and retain the best team in retail. To do that they offer financial, health, and personal benefits. However, they have failed to stick to mission, by removing some of the attractiveness or reducing hours, so associates do not qualify for the benefits, all due to decreased sales and stock pitfalls. As a result, there is a negative impact on the company’s competitiveness to attract and retain valuable associates. Getting back to the mission is going to require building their image up as a leader in providing competitive compensation and benefits to potential and existing associates.

Work cited

Carlisle, Candace. "Exclusive: Developer Renames J.C. Penny's Campus's to Market Land, Corporate Space." Dallas Business Insider. N.p., 17 Aug. 2016.

Retrieved Web. 07 Oct. 2016.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2016/08/17/exclusive-developer-renames-j-c-penneys-campus-to.html

Close, Kerry. "Why It's a Bad Time to Work at JCPenney." Time. Time, 06 May 2016.

Retrieved Web. 08 Oct. 2016.

http://time.com/money/4320841/jc-penney-cut-employee-hours/

"JCPenny’s 2013 Benefits Guide."

Retrieved Web. 7 Oct. 2016.

https://cache.hewitt.com/ytr/US02524/epc/pdfs/2013FullTimeNonPRGuide.pdf

"Jc Penny Benefits 2016 Annual Enrollment."

Retrieved Web. 7 Oct. 2016.

https://cache.hacontent.com/ybr/R515/02524_ybr_ybrfndt/downloads/CENROLLG1.pdf

"JCPenny About Us." Jcpenney.com - Jcpenney about Us. N.p., n.d.

Retrieved Web. 07 Oct. 2016.

"Jobs at JCPenney - JCPenney Careers." Jobs at JCPenney - JCPenney Careers. N.p., n.d.

Retrieved Web. 08 Oct. 2016.

http://jobs.jobvite.com/jcp/

Martocchio, Joseph J. Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management Approach. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River New Jersey: Pearson, 2015. Page 226 Print.