Shame on employers who exploit their staff
The Other SideThe truth about how employers impose barriers on commissions of staff was highlighted in an early July 2006 report by the Straits Times. Pre-conditions are set up requiring stafff to sell products in different product groups before they are given the commission for sales. So if the staff achieves a lot of sales in one but not for all the required product groups, that's too bad, no commission. Doesn' t any sales bring in money for the employer and isn't that the bottomline for any business?
This is a somewhat twisted version of a principle that started simply. Pay workers a lower salary and peg further earnings to sales which will also benefit the employer. Of course, the employer can assert its prerogative that it should be free to decide how it wants to compensate its employees. And that no one is forced to join the company. But it is a certainly a sign of the more complicated times and dog-eat-dog mentality that we live in today! In this case, an issue of the top dogs looking after their interest before others.
When a situation gets complicated, it's always good to get back to basics. Some jobs are commission-based because they pay a lower salary. Commissions provide the incentive for the employee to prove himself or herself. So when employers start raising the bar in paying commission to its staff, it smacks of being exploitive.
One one hand, it is accepted that companies must make a profit but what makes a company? Enough has been written about how the success of a company depends on the people it has. So does it mean that this iniquitous compensation scheme is being implemented against logic?
Surely, the loser in this case is not just the employee but the customers. Why so? In the eagerness or perhaps desperation to achieve the target set, the employee may skip over some disclosure requirements required for financial products.
It also raises the question. If this shows how the company cares for its employees, what does it think about its relationship and responsibility to customers?
posted by Ek Heng @ 11:58 AM
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