Free HR and Compensation Courses

Try one of ERI's free Distance Learning Center courses to help you stay informed and knowledgeable about compensation.

Technology in Total Rewards

Basic

HR platforms continue to evolve with artificial intelligence starting to play a big role in solutions for several key HR functional areas. We will look at how using HR platforms can bring real benefit...

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Basics of Total Rewards

Overview

Total rewards programs are continuously evolving. In this course we take a look at legacy programs that persist in some organizations today and also those that have come into existence as part of the ...

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Organization Salary Determinations

Basic

Before establishing or adjusting a salary structure, Human Resources management must consider their organization’s internal and external labor market to make informed decisions about average job...

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Fundamentals of Compensation Quantitative Methods

Basic

This online math course teaches everyday mathematics used in total rewards compensation and benefits programs. We begin with a discussion of basic mathematics, including math order of operations and ...

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IRS Reasonable Executive Compensation

Advanced

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) monitors executive compensation in closely held companies to ensure that any pay that is deducted meets the tests for reasonable compensation. This course looks...

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Federal Employment Laws That Impact Compensation and Benefits

Overview

Employers and human resources professionals need to know how federal laws govern employee compensation and benefits administration. This course will cover the salient laws such as those impacting pay,...

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Intermediate Sanctions

Advanced

Nonprofit executive compensation is regulated by intermediate sanctions, rules that penalize disqualified persons who receive excess benefit transactions from 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) tax exempt organi...

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Quantitative Methods Used in Salary Administration

Intermediate

Whether analyzing pay data, building a salary structure, implementing salary increases, or accounting for geographic pay differentials, some fundamental mathematical skills are needed. This course wil...

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The Basics of Equity Compensation

Intermediate

This course presents a basic overview of equity compensation. You will learn about stock options including ISOs and NSOs, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, phantom s...

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Compensation for Business Leaders

Intermediate

Employees in top management positions have compensation packages that are custom tailored to the position. This greater complexity is necessary because top management is responsible for the success of...

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Black-Scholes Valuations

Advanced

While stock options are not as widely used as an element of compensation as they once were, they are still an important part of executive pay, especially for startups and tech companies compensating f...

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Executive Compensation and the Role of the Compensation Committee

Intermediate

The top executives in an organization have the biggest impact on its performance and meeting stakeholder expectations. The compensation they receive is designed to align their efforts with those expec...

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Eliminating the Gender Pay Gap

Advanced

When the Equal Pay Act was first enacted in 1963, women earned just 59 cents to every dollar that men earned. Today the pay gap has narrowed to 84 cents. Although the gender-based pay gap has narrowed...

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Job Analysis and Job Descriptions

Basic

Well written job descriptions will touch many parts of an organization. In this course, you will learn how to design a job analysis program to be a resource for developing well-written job description...

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Using Job Evaluation in Your Organization

Intermediate

While market-based pay systems have become the most common method for determining pay, job evaluation is an important tool for compensation professionals seeking to achieve internal pay equity. This c...

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Accumulated Earnings and Deferred Compensation

Advanced

Taxes are an important consideration when deciding how to distribute a closely held company’s earnings. This course covers the tax implications of accumulated earnings and how applicable IRS rules see...

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Regression Analysis Used in Compensation Administration

Advanced

Regression analysis may be used in compensation administration to create a model that can be used to determine salary based on one or more independent variables such as area, experience, revenue, perf...

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Employee Life and Disability Insurance

Overview

For employees and their families, life and disability insurance can provide an important safety net. Many organizations include such insurance in their benefit plans. An additional safety net is Socia...

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Employee Benefits Strategies

Basic

With the right combination of benefits and cash compensation, an organization can position itself to attract and retain the employees it needs to thrive. Providing benefits is a big cost to any organi...

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Relocating an Employee Within the United States

Intermediate

Many organizations find it necessary to relocate employees. A relocation may be moving a young, single new hire who rents across the state, moving a senior employee with a family and a home across the...

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Comparing the DOT, O*NET and eDOT

Basic

This course compares three occupational classification systems: the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), O*NET and ERI’s enhanced Dictionary of Occupational Titles (eDOT). We look at their similar...

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Environments of Compensation and Benefits Administration

Overview

An organization’s total rewards program is influenced by its economic, social, organizational, technical, and legal environments. This course will examine the first four. You will look at how differen...

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Nonprofit Variable Pay

Intermediate

Today, variable pay is widely used in nonprofit organizations. In this course you will review the regulations that govern nonprofit pay. You will learn how to use different kinds of variable pay plans...

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Analyzing Salary Surveys

Intermediate

Quality salary survey data is essential to a competitive compensation plan. There are many options for obtaining salary survey data: government surveys, internet data, published surveys, survey softwa...

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Trends in Retirement Plans

Overview

Retirement plans are an important component of employee benefits. In this course you will learn about demographic trends that are influencing retirement plans. There will be an examination of Social S...

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Creating a Variable Pay Plan

Intermediate

Variable pay plans provide flexible and responsive pay strategies that may be used to lower costs when organizations are experiencing hard times. They may also be used to enhance organization performa...

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Sales Compensation and Expense Allowances

Intermediate

The sales force needs to be highly motivated to produce results that are aligned with an organization’s business goals. One way to accomplish this is to have an incentive compensation plan, additional...

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Pay-for-Performance

Intermediate

Pay-for-performance is an effective way to motivate employees to make greater contributions to the organization. To make the performance-reward connection, there has to be a way to compare employee co...

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Salary Increase Planning

Intermediate

Salary increases are necessary to attract, retain, recognize, and reward employees. This course examines different types of salary increases, how to plan for them, how to be market competitive and int...

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Salary Structures and Pay Delivery

Intermediate

Base salary structures are management tools designed for compensation program administration. Ideally, a salary structure will provide management with guidance to provide compensation that is internal...

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Creating a Market Competitive Salary Structure

Intermediate

The focus of this course is the design and development of a single market-based salary structure. An organization may use such a salary structure to gain a competitive position to attract, retain, mot...

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Designing a Geographic Salary Structure

Intermediate

The cost of labor in different labor markets affects salary structures and pay practices. If your organization has branch offices, manufacturing plants, or warehouses in multiple locations, including ...

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The U.S. Labor Market and Compensation Trends

Intermediate

Numerous factors impact the U.S. labor market and compensation. These include labor supply and demand, advancements in technology, government regulations, unions, productivity, education and training,...

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Multiple Country Compensation Programs

Intermediate

When an organization has global operations, total rewards need to be aligned with its global business strategy to ensure market competitive, fair, equitable, and legal programs in each country of oper...

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Expatriate Compensation

Intermediate

When an organization has global operations, it needs equitable, market competitive, and legal compensation programs in each country of operation that are aligned with its global business strategy. Thi...

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Global Mobility and the Relocation of an Employee to an International Assignment

Intermediate

When there is a need for an employee to work in another country there are many things that need to be considered. Global mobility encompasses a range of assignments from frequent international busine...

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