Leading Question

Most employees feel fortunate just to have a job as the end of 2009 approaches. But a few area companies are giving employees a little extra this year, despite strained budgets. They’re throwing holiday parties, handing out awards and funding pensions—rewards that employees in better economic times came to expect. Here are ways two companies are recognizing their staffs for their hard work.

Funding the company’s discretionary pension plan
Who: Gulfcoast Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons and The Vein and Laser Treatment Center, Fort Myers and Naples
What went into the decision: “Obviously times are tight for all of the medical practices here in Fort Myers, and we’re no different,” says business manager Amy Dunnigan. Due to the tough economy, the owners considered not paying into the pension, which employees assumed would be funded. But they decided funding the pension—about 6 percent of each employee’s salary—was an important benefit and would help retain employees, she says. The amount hasn’t changed. About 35 full-time, non-physician employees receive the pension funds. (They are required to have been with practice for more than a year and over the age of 21.) Even with that choice, Dunnigan says there could be a decrease in the amount spent on the holidays and in year-end bonuses.