Do you pay for professional memberships?

Reggie02

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-22-04 AT 04:47PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I am wondering if your organization pays for employees professional organization membership dues. I work in higher education and our department has a policy to pay up to $100 for any employees professional organizational membership dues based on current salary. Following is the excerpt from our department policy manual:

The department supports it members joining and participating in professional organizations. By participating, we mean attending meetings, participating in awards and critique contests, serving on professional organization committees, running for elected office, etc.

Support for membership dues:
a. $100 per fiscal year for those staff members making less than $35,000
b. $75 per fiscal year for those staff members making between $35,001 - $40,000
c. $50 per fiscal year for those staff members making between $40,001 - $45,000
d. No financial support for membership dues will be allocated to those staff members making more than $45,000 per year.

I would like to know what kind of support is provided by other employers, not just educational institutions.

Thanks!

Thank you for your comments. You are all correct that there is terrific benefit (in most cases)from staff belonging to professional organizations especially when they are active in them. It does bring recognition to the institution.

It's good to know that so many employers recognize the value of and support professional organization memberships.

mushroomHR

My employer pays 100% for employee memberships. Of course they review the organization before they pay to make sure it is a worthwhile to the company. I belong to SHRM and I'm greatful that my employer pays my dues.

HRGirl

My company pays dues for professional organizations. There is no limit on the amount or based on salary, but you must show how it ties into our companies professional development program.

Don D

We pay 100% of the dues for professional organizations, limited somewhat by the type of work we do, i.e., personnel associations, engineer society, economic development organization, chambers of commerce, manufacturer's association. There obviously has to be a work-organization correlation. I think the backwards-sliding-scale you have in place is a real disincentive to belong to organizations. I'm sure the theory is that the more money you make, the less assistance you need in paying for memberships; but, jeeeesh!, your employees aren't joining for their personal edification...it's because they work in the occupation you employ them in.

Running for elective office? NO! That's a personal decision and woule benefit the individual, not the company.

Brad Forrister

I agree with Don's first paragraph. The "needs" assessment you ought to be going through should be whether the employer benefits from the employee's membership and the professional advancement that comes with it.

As to the second, I assume "running for elected office" means an elected office of the organization. I think in many, many cases, perhaps particularly in higher ed, running for and winning a leadership role in a professional organization can pay big dividends for the employer as well as the employee.

For that matter, if you're in public higher ed, running for elective governmental office can help your employer as well.

Brad Forrister
Director of Publishing
M. Lee Smith Publishers

marc

We also pay for 100% and have a rigorous look at the benefits to our organization. There is also a funds available test during the budget process. These types of expenditures are not as high a priority as direct services expenditures related to our programs.

Our non-profit tries to balance between the community services and the employee development. When funds are tight, the community services win.

hrbanker

My employer pays for both my national SHRM membership and local SHRM dues. Our watchdog in accounting does ask how the dual membership benefits the organization.