Benefits and Social Insurance

Benefits and Social Insurance Research

Employee Benefits:

Broad definition – Any form of employee compensation other than direct wages. 

Narrow definition – Any type of plan sponsored or initiated by employers or employees and providing benefits that stem from the employment relationship and that are not underwritten or paid directly by government.  In general, the intent is to includes plans that provide in an orderly predetermined fashion for (1) income maintenance during periods when regular earnings are cut off, and (2) benefits to meet medical expenses associated with illness or injury.

[from Roberts’ Dictionary of Industrial Relations, 4^th ed., BNA, 1993.]

Social Insurance: 

Protection of the individual against economic hazards (as unemployment, old age, or disability) in which the government participates or enforces the participation of employers and affected individuals.  [Merriam Webster Online, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social+insurance]