Discuss your views about whether discretionary employee benefits should be an entitlement or something earned based on job performance Discretionary employee benefits which are ones not mandated by law include Vacation leave sick leave dental insurance 401 K plans vision insurance pensions health insurance and prescription drug insurance Social security and medicare aren t discretionary as they are required by law I hate to say that we are entitled to receive these discretionary benefits but I think that in order for companies to be competitive to attract good employees and to retain good employees they need to offer them or a majority of them I do think that initially an employee has to earn it This would fall into a companies 3 month waiting period to be sure that they are good fit for the company able to perform the job required After that time I believe that all or some of these benefits are necessary to help families provide for their families Response 2 When an person applies for a job they are looking for compensation that will allow them to meet the needs of themselves and their families Therefore I do believe that discretionary benefits should be entitled because they are for the most part necessary An employee needs to take time off so as not to get burned out and to maintain a healthy balance of work and life Medical dental vision benefits are also a priority for an employee to meet the needs of family and self I think that although its not the law if an organization wants to recruit good people and retain them then they need to meet the needs of that person and then they are less likely to leave the company I also believe they are more likely to work hard because they are being compensated in a way that is considerate of them and they don t just feel like they are working but not appreciated for the job they do I know in my position it is hard because I am a person who does go above and beyond and being told I am capped out when my rate of pay is not high at all is an insult to not even be considered for COLA is like a slap in the face I really do enjoy my position and one perk is I can make my schedule and I also take advantage of free child care I think that is the reason I don t get to upset about not qualifying for a raise because of the benefits Therefore benefits go along way even when there is a lack of pay