John Schembari, an attorney at Kutak Rock and nationally recognized for legal services in employee benefits and workplace issues, says it’s good for companies to reevaluate compensation, bonus and incentive plans to attract the best employees. Mr. Schembari made his comments in a story published Sunday, September 4, 2016 in the Omaha World-Herald, “More Companies are Doing Away with Automatic Annual Pay Raises, But Will Workers Buy in?”

The article identified several new trends in corporate profit-sharing programs, bonuses and added perks that encourage workers’ performance. For example, General Electric, a firm often monitored by American employers and managers for its innovative workplace, says it may end traditional annual pay raises.

“There is always a desire by companies to tie compensation to performance, through bonuses or incentive compensation,” Schembari says, “… [but] the American workforce has come to expect annual pay raises that generally tend to slightly beat the rate of inflation. I do not think we will see the annual pay raise go away anytime soon for the vast majority of businesses.”

He notes that certain types of businesses have more flexibility in offering alternatives in merit-based rewards.

To see the entire article, please click here.

Schembari serves as chair of the firm's employee benefits and executive compensation group. He works with private, public and governmental employers on their employee benefit plans and compensation programs.