Companies like P&G, TCS and others ask employees to structure their salary package

Employees who thought their pay packets could be designed better now have a reason to smile. Companies are now offering their employees the choice to structure their pay packets. So while the cost-tocompany (CTC) is fixed by the employer, employees are given a free hand to decide on which components they would like to have as part of the salary. 


Termed 'My Pay, My Choice' by Procter & Gamble India (P&G ), 'Flexi Menu' by Marico and 'Bouquet of Benefits' by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the objective is one and the same. And though it's still limited to certain companies , the trend could grow. 


P&G launched 'My Pay My Choice' this year after it realized that youngsters prefer a working environment which offers them choice, even in the way their salary is structured. "We realized that because you have different generations of people, choice is critical. So we offer them choice. For instance , they may want to take a certain amount of cash or keep it in a company fund which will come with its own benefits. People see value in this," said Sonali Roychowdhury , head, HR, P&G India, which has 1,000-odd managers in the country. 


Similarly, to attract new recruits as well as retain the existing talent, TCS, Asia's largest IT services provider, has a scheme called 'Bouquet of Benefits' , which allows TCSers to design their own pay packets. Launched some six years ago, employees are allowed to make changes to their salary structure twice in a year. The flexible-benefit plan aids employees in working out their tax payouts. For instance, the employee can cap the amount on food vouchers and divert the rest to other benefits. 


In case of food vouchers, employees will have to pay tax if the amount exceeds Rs 3,000. The IT giant also allows its employees to customize a part of their variable pay as well. A flexible-compensation model such as this helps to maintain consistent growth in an industry that witnesses a high attrition rate of 15%. TCS has over 2 lakh people on its rolls. 


At Asian Paints, the country's leading paint company, all 700 executive and managerial cadre employees are covered under a 'Flexi Grade Allowance' system, which gives them the option of designing certain allowances to suit their lifestyle. For instance, the company could be offering a manager a car allowance for a particular high-end model, but the manager has the option to alter this to suit his needs for asmall car and, perhaps, go for a higher component which meets his housing requirements or leave travel allowance. 


So while the CTC is fixed and benchmarked against the market, the components may vary from one manager to the other. "Younger managers who come from secure backgrounds generally prefer more cash in hand as they may want to spend more as disposable income . While there are others who may prefer to have a lumpsum at the end of the year. We have received a positive response from employees on the flexi model," said Ernest Louis, vice president, HR, Asian Paints.