Compensation and Benefits Managers

Overview

Compensation and Benefits Managers has a national median salary of $149,230 per year, with +1.1% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Plan, direct, or coordinate compensation and benefits activities of an organization.

Work Values

• Relationships
• Support
• Independence

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Direct preparation and distribution of written and verbal information to inform employees of benefits, compensation, and personnel policies.
• Design, evaluate, and modify benefits policies to ensure that programs are current, competitive, and in compliance with legal requirements.
• Fulfill all reporting requirements of all relevant government rules and regulations, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
• Analyze compensation policies, government regulations, and prevailing wage rates to develop competitive compensation plan.
• Identify and implement benefits to increase the quality of life for employees by working with brokers and researching benefits issues.

Work Activities

• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
• Getting Information
• Working with Computers
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Communicating with People Outside the Organization
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
• Developing Objectives and Strategies
• Analyzing Data or Information

Detailed Work Activities

• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
• Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished a master's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Master's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a bachelor's degree.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Compensation and Benefits Managers:

Video Resources