Make your own salary menu

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Though not many of us have control on the sum of money we take home every month, we may have a say on its packaging (read break-up). HR experts say this may soon become the norm but a few companies like Marico, P&G and TCS have already allowed their employees to structure their salary packages. Giving the schemes upmarket labels such as My Pay, My Choice, Flexi Menu and Bouquet of Benefits, the objective behind the flexible compensation structure is to let employees have the flexibility to opt for those components of pay that suit their personal needs and individual lifestyles.

“At the core of the move is a young workforce that wants a choice even in the way its salary is structured. For instance, many would like their take-home salary to be substantial. And they would be happy to make their basic salary component lighter and so also the liability of provident fund, which only benefits them in the distant future. The same could apply to someone with growing and studying children,” says Vinay Grover, CEO and director at executive search firm, Symbiosis Management Consultants.
Let’s take see how the system works. Suppose a company offers a manager a car allowance for a particular high-end vehicle. With the flexible pay model, the executive has the alternative to alter the grant to suit his needs for a small car and, maybe go for a higher component that meets his other requirements such as housing or travel allowance (LTA). An HR manager in a Delhi-based firm, Geetika Verma is already pondering about how she will decide the salary components when her company takes the leap. “I talk on the phone only if there is a need so I would want a lighter mobile reimbursement. But I’d like a considerably larger books and periodicals am-ount,” she says.
Says Rachna Saksena, secretary, Indian Staffing Federa-tion, “Different people have different needs. Though one needs to keep in mind that all the salary components are taxable and if this flexibility brings cheer to employees, then why not?”
A few companies now also allow workers to make changes to their salary structure twice a year. A few let their employees customise part of their variable pay. “An example of this would be the facility that Schneider Elec-tric India provides for employees who would like to plan for their pension which allows them to allocate money to a Superannuation Fund, while those who would prefer more cash in hand can opt out of the scheme. Besides, employees who are looking to buy a car can opt for a car allowance under the Flexi Basket, which would also provide them with a tax break,” says Dr Shalini Sarin, VP, HR, Schneider Electric India.
HR observers say that this move will help a company maintain consistent growth in times of high attrition but that the attitude of “a worker never being happy with his or her salary” remains to be sorted out.