PBGC Company Profile Essay Example for Free

PBGC Company Profile Essay PBGC is an abbreviation of a Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The purpose of this federal corporation is to protect American’s pension. Its mission is related to protection: Forty four million American workers retirement income is currently being protected in more than 30000 benefit pension plans of private single-employer and multiemployer. Its formation is the result of an act of 1974 by the name Employee Retirement Income Security Act. It has the following objectives: First It helps private-sector define benefit pension plans to be continued and remain well maintained. Second is to provide pension benefits payment time to time, without any interruption. Its third objective is to keep minimum pension insurance premiums. The defined benefit pension plan gives pension on a monthly basis to the retirees but the pension amount is depended upon the salary and the year of services the retirees have rendered. The corporation does not only give monthly payments to retirees up to the guaranteed maximum but also the multiemployer plans participants and one who have not retired yet get financial assistance from it. General Tax Revenues don’t give any kind of fund to this corporation. Insurance premiums financed the operations of this federal corporation which was being set by Congress. Insurance premium is being paid by the sponsors defined for each benefit plan that are basically employers. The recoveries are being made from the companies which would be responsible for the plans in the past. Earnings come from investments for this corporation. According to the plan ended in 2008, workers will get $4,312. 50 monthly when they will get retire at the age of 65. It serves the range of customer’s e. g. general public, media and so on. Board of directors including the Secretaries of Labor (Chair), Commerce and the Treasury guided the operations of PBGC. The two highest priorities of this administration is to reform the defined benefit pension system and bring improvement in retirement security. It contributed in the development of Pension Protection Act of 2006. Since PBGC has worked over the last 33 years for the protection plan of participant’s interests and also to support private pension system’s growth; millions of American workers can now think about secured retirement along with their families. Both the benefit plan and the guarantee by PBGC have made a difference in the lives of the diligent Americans. Annually about $4 million is being given by this corporation to 44 million Americans. The development of the 2006 act not only improved the status of funding of many defined benefit plans but also pension system is being strengthened. Competitive advantage: The corporation has been very effective throughout in managing change over the past few years,’ pension insurance programs have faced many unexpected challenges. The corporation also won an award of managing its work force superbly in this changing business environment. The executive director said: â€Å"We are pleased to be recognized for having the right people, processes and systems in place to manage a doubling of our customer base with no diminution in the quality of our customer service. † (www. pbgc. gov,2008). It was being a first federal agency which got the full certification for its executive evaluation system. It got plenty of awards presented in magazines. These are as under: General Excellence, Service, Competitive Advantage, Global Outlook, Innovation, Managing Change, Financial Impact, Partnership, Ethical Practice and Vision. Weaknesses of PBGC: Weaknesses of PBGC’s certification and accreditation (CA): This would impact the accuracy and completion of information which would affect the credibility of the corporation. It also affects the capability of the corporation to take and manage risks. It compromises agency’s personnel and assets too. There should be an effective CA system to assure security of assets, personnel and operations and that could assure that the corporation is capable enough to meet its functional requirements. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-37, Accreditation of Federal Information Systems and Guide for the Security Certification provides the framework under 2002 act named as the Federal Information Security Management Act, Public Law 107-347, for how CA program of this corporation should be implemented. Inadequate security policy and plan: The security policy and plan of the current information of PBGC are not according to the guidance provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology Special (NIST) under Federal Information Security Management Act. NIST has developed guidance and standards. It also includes minimum requirement to provide sufficient security of information for all agency assets and operations Change in organizational structure: In 2006 the reorganization of the OIT i. e. ffice of information technology had badly affected the Information System Security Officer’s ability to ensure appropriate operational security for PBGC’s information system. It affected the clarity for officer in terms of his responsibilities and accountability. It made it hard for the officer to establish security standards and procedures. Internal control weaknesses: High risk is being involved in the PBGC’s single-employer pension insurance program. The program had an accumulated deficit of $5. 4 billion in 2003 which was the largest one in history of the corporation. Under funding also increased dramatically in private pension system. The deficit was due to the following reasons: bankrupt firm’s under funded pension plans were ceased, there was a drawback in funding rules, stock market and interest rates decline, companies went global and economy is turned into knowledge based economy. The company had taken steps to improve the internal control for premiums. This is being done for two reasons. First Safeguard of assets: controls must be establish to ensure that cost and obligation are according to the law applicable and assets are safeguarded against any loss or related factors. Second reason is Financial Reporting: it is to ensure that proper reporting is being done of all the revenues and expenditures so that documentation and reports can be made and are accurate. Data Quality Weaknesses: Incorrect data entry, adjustments, and system-generated balances generate errors. Because of the data quality issue, the corporation is unable to ensure the accuracy and completeness of premium data by utilizing Past Due Filing Notices and Statements of Account. The 1st one used to notify plans which had not yet submitted premium filings and 2nd one is used to ensure that underpaid/overpaid premiums from a plan sponsor could be sort out effectively. During auditing it was being noticed that these two tools are not being used timely as it requires significant resources before mailing. Due to this, premiums could not be collected and errors could not be detected. Additionally policies and procedures have not been documented, communicated, or implemented throughout PBGC which is related to the premium accounting cycle. www. pbgc. gov,2008). Business Strategy: The new investment strategy is being formulated to balance risk and return and to improve chances of reaching full funding over the long run. According to this strategy diversified set of fixed-income investments and diversified equity investments both will be given 45% of its assets each and 10% will be given to alternative investment. Financial Information: A deficit of $18. 1 billion was being posted by insurance program for single-employer pension plans in fiscal year 2006. Due to the airline relief provisions in the Pension Protection Act, the corporation managed to reduce its probable liabilities. This led to a $4. 7 billion net improvement. It announces maximum insurance benefit for 2009. The amount would be higher for those who retire later and vise versa. The corporation had a peak year in 2000 when they had a surplus of $10 billion almost which was followed by surplus of $8 billion in 2001. The corporation got the calls in order to stop charging premiums. It got around $9 billion claims in 2002. The claims were because of airline and steel industry. (www. soa. org, n. d. ).

Comentary On Line Training Essay -- Training Job Workforce Essays

Comentary On Line Training Constant training, retraining, job-hopping, and even career-hopping, will become the norm, predict Mary O'Hara-Devereaux and Robert Johansen (qtd. in Pritchett 45). This makes the trainer's position all the more valuable in the work place. The demand for training will continue to increase as employees move more frequently from job to job. It is important that trainers realize and act upon this fact. Training programs will need to fit the changing needs of the work force. Many of the employees will enter a new position with prior experience and need to be brought up to speed quickly. Optimization of resources, in this case the resources each new employee brings to the company, will be important. The implementation and use of training programs within companies is many times a vital resource that assists in the overall success of the company. "Industrial leaders have made it clear that one important factor for attaining economic competitiveness is adequate levels of knowledge and skills in the work force" (Gordon 2). Training departments strive to prepare employees to optimize their potential for success within the company. At the same time, these training programs should be optimizing the potential of their department. In order to do this, training departments need to reassess their training programs. There are numerous opportunities available through multimedia such as the Internet, online training programs, CD-ROM training, and many more. Trainers need to continually to be aware of their surrounding and the environment they work within. Many facets of the corporate world impact the workplace environment, and these facets continue to change at ever-increasing rates. As part of the Informa... ...f the training experience. Works Cited Bunn, Bill E. "Multimedia Scripting." Intercom April 2000: 14-18. Chu, Francis. "Don't Train in Vain." PC Week April 2000: 1,20,22. Coleman, Mary Ellen and Carol Bahruth. "Animation." Intercom March 2000: 6-8. Gordon, Sallie E. Systematic Training Program Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: P T R Prentice Hall Mason, 1994. Mason, Robin and Anthony Kaye, ed. Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Distance Learning. Oxford: Pergamon P, 1989. O'Hara-Devereaux, Mary and Robert Johansen. "Global Work: Bridging Distance, Culture, and Time." Pritchett, Price. "New Work Habits for a Radically Changing World." Dallas, TX: Pritchett, n.d. Rosenberg, Nils A. "Communication for the World". Intercom May 2000: 6-9. Webb, Wendy. A Trainer's Guide to the World Wide Web and Intranets. Minneapolis: Lakewood Books, 1996.

Responsibility of Ethics Essay

Ethical standing among community members and business persons is held in high regard.   The matter of trust needs to be had at all times so that people know that their information is safe.   When ethical issues arise, somewhere, somehow there has to be someone who is able and willing to stand up and report the unethical issue.   All professionals are bound by ethics and the responsibility to report wrong doing. In this case, the widow’s attorney is charging the widow 12-14% more than his average percentage with respects to his other clients.   Normal everyday ethics suggest that not only is he acting in bad ethics but obviously is taking advantage of this widow.   Charlie, even if not mandated by law or administrative rule, should inform the widow.   This would be the right and respectful thing to do but is Charlie mandated by any code of ethics to act on this information and inform her is the real question. Charlie, even though he is not the person creating the ethical situation, is bound by ethical codes to inform this widow at the very least but more appropriately the governing agency, of the actions of her attorney.  Ã‚   As stated in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct for CPA’s â€Å"members should act with integrity, guided by the precept that when members fulfill their responsibility to the public, clients’ and employers’ interests are best served.† (ET Section 53 – Article II—The Public Interest, ET Section 52 – Article I—Responsibilities, ET Section 54 – Article III—Integrity &    ET Section 56 – Article V—Due Care of the AICPA). The biggest ethical issue is honesty, integrity and the personal gain issues.   The attorney stands to gain a substantial amount of money, well more than what he should for his services.   The code of ethics for attorney’s alone is violated is drastic ways.   Some states have statutes on how an attorney charges their client and some rely of good ethical behavior but this aside, attorneys are to charge only what is fair and consistent with how they charge everyone else. This attorney is violating a huge public interest and the widow can file a complaint and the attorney stands to lose his liscense to practice law.   Charlie can also intervene and simply make a phone call to the governing agency as this particular information that he knows, is not bound by the confidentiality laws as this information was derived not by the widows words but by the admittance of the attorney in which there is no confidentiality as there is no client issue due to the fact that Charlie is not asking for advice and the lawyer is not giving it. Works Cited AICPA Code of Professional Conduct.   2006-2008.   http://www.aicpa.org/About/code/sec50.htm New Jersey Judiciary. Office of Attorney Ethics. 2001 http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/oae/OAEEthicsPamphlet.pdf

History of Naturalization Requirements in the U.S.

Naturalization is the process of gaining United States citizenship. Becoming an American citizen is the ultimate goal for many immigrants, but very few people are aware that the requirements for naturalization have been over 200 years in the making. Legislative History of Naturalization Before applying for naturalization, most immigrants must have spent 5 years as a permanent resident in the United States. How did we come up with the 5-year rule? The answer is found in the legislative history of immigration to the U.S. Naturalization requirements are set out in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the basic body of immigration law. Before the INA was created in 1952, a variety of statutes governed immigration law. Lets take a look at the major changes to naturalization requirements. Before the Act of March 26, 1790, naturalization was under the control of the individual states. This first federal activity established a uniform rule for naturalization by setting the residence requirement at 2 years.The Act of January 29, 1795, repealed the 1790 act and raised the residency requirement to 5 years. It also required, for the first time, a declaration of intention to seek citizenship at least 3 years before naturalization.Along came the Naturalization Act of June 18, 1798 - a time when political tensions were running high and there was an increased desire to guard the nation. The residence requirement for naturalization was raised from 5 years to 14 years.Four years later, Congress passed the Naturalization Act of April 14, 1802, which reduced the residence period for naturalization from 14 years back to 5 years.The Act of May 26, 1824, made it easier for the naturalization of certain aliens who had entered the U.S. as minors, by setting a 2-year instead of a 3-year interval between the declaration of intention and admission to citizenship.The Act of May 11, 1922, was an extension of a 1921 Act and included an amendment that changed the residency requirement in a Western Hemisphere country from 1 year to the current requirement of 5 years.Noncitizens who had served honorably in the U.S. armed forces during the Vietnam conflict or in other periods of military hostilities were recognized in the Act of October 24, 1968. This act amended the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, providing an expedited naturalization process for these military members.The 2-year continuous U.S. residence requirement was done away with in the Act of October 5, 1978.A major overhaul of immigration law occurred with the Immigration Act of November 29, 1990. In it, state residency requirements were reduced to the current requirement of 3 months. Naturalization Requirements Today Todays general naturalization requirements state that you must have 5 years as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. prior to filing, with no single absence from the U.S. of more than 1 year. In addition, you must have been physically present in the U.S. for at least 30 months out of the previous 5 years and resided within a state or district for at least 3 months. It is important to note that there are exceptions to the 5-year rule for certain people. These include: spouses of U.S. citizens; employees of the U.S. Government (including the U.S. Armed Forces); American research institutes recognized by the Attorney General; recognized U.S. religious organizations; U.S. research institutions; an American firm engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the U.S.; and certain public international organizations involving the U.S. USCIS has special help available for naturalization candidates with disabilities and the government makes some exceptions on requirements for elderly people. Source: USCIS Edited by Dan Moffett