Problem
Abuse of in kind payments
Other Names:
Abuse of non-salary benefitsFeatherbedding
Substitution of goods for wages
Payment in kind
Nature:
Payments in kind, especially when compulsory (workers being paid in part in the goods they produce, or workers being forced to purchase goods from company stores), may seriously restrict a worker's freedom to spend his wages. Deductions for defective work and disciplinary fines are two other means by which payments may be abused.Fringe benefits also represent abuse of payments. Company expense accounts, dinners, travel expenses are all just sophisticated forms of wages in kind and thus are liable to abuse, though often in reverse, that is, the employee abusing the payments in kind offered by the employer.
Incidence:
There were reports in 1993 of Latvian workers being paid with eggs, clothes and furniture as alternatives to money, due to the shortage of banknotes. Broader Problems:
Underground economyUnderpayment for workUnethical practices of employersUnethical construction practices Narrower Problems:
Abuse of expense accounts Related Problems:
CountertradeDebt slaveryDecline in real wagesDenial of right of equal pay for equal work Strategies:
Offering in kind payments Subject(s):
Social Activity → Employment conditionsSocial Activity → Welfare
Commerce → Currency
Commerce → Merchandise
Societal Problems → Maltreatment
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
F: Fuzzy exceptional problems Date of last update
01.01.2000 – 00:00 CET