Community Forum – Professional Society Dues

Does your organization pay professional society dues for individuals?

Typically members of a technical community participate in exterior memberships in professional societies — ie AICHE, American Chemistry Society, etc. Does your organization subsidize or pay these memberships? How does your organization value these memberships for individuals? Are there standard guidelines your organization uses to determine when membership in an organization should be reimbursed for individual researchers? – Peggy Matherne, Global R&D Director – Catalysts, Albemarle Corporation

Community Responses

Dawn Mason,Group Leader, Adhesives and Polymers Technology, Eastman Chemical Company
We do pay if it is needed for the employee’s specific job. For example, we pay for Professional Engineer license, but not American Chemical Society dues.

Jay Otten, Manager, Technology & Innovation, BASF​
BASF Corp pays for professional dues such as AOCS, ACS, etc.

James Maloney III, Timken
Yes, my company does pay for professional society dues. The first membership is the employees’ responsibility and other memberships that are approved by the company are paid by the company.

Director of Technology, Large Chemical Company​
Yes, we pay professional society dues for technical professionals as long as there is a connection between the work function of the employee and the society – so ACS is obviously relevant for chemists, ABA not. We view these dues as part of the continued professional development of employees, and one way we support and encourage their continued learning and professional development.

Gary Yezbick, Vice President, Innovation & Sustainability, Masco Corporation
Our company fully reimburses employees for professional memberships associated with their current position.

Business Unit R&D Vice President, Large Petrochemical Company
We paid for one professional membership for exempt R&D staff. The exempt employee paid for the membership and then was reimbursed by the company. In many cases additional memberships were also paid if directly related to the individual’s work-related responsibilities (e.g., several of our R&D staff involved in new business development had their dues for belonging to PDMA paid in addition to their professional society dues). For additional dues to be paid by the company, their supervisor had to approve the reimbursement. Reimbursement was handled by submitting it on an expense report.

Steve Jennings, Executive Director Technology, Greene, Tweed, Inc.​
Every employer I have worked with has some version of reimbursement policy for professional societies. Guidelines require that the organization is applicable to the business and usually no more than two memberships per employee, but this depends on the individual and their contribution level to the organization and the industry as a whole. An example of that would be an entry level engineer or scientist would be allowed one membership while a research fellow could have several depending on the industry and field. Active participation is encouraged and sometimes a component in the individuals performance objectives. Only through participation is the value of the membership realized; this allows technical and individual growth for the employee and provides visibility of the company in a recognized field.

Debra Streich, Manager, Technology Practice, Planning & Performance, BP
Each technology organization within our company typically has its own policy. Most pay for one professional society membership of the individual’s choosing.

Peter Finamore Manager, Product Sustainability & Energy Technology, Deere and Company​
Memberships are paid based on the associated business value for the association to the employee. Department budgeting accounts for these associated costs and managers review the value when approving such budgets.

Phil Minerich, Vice-President, Research & Development, Hormel Foods Corp.​
Our organization endorses and financially supports memberships to select professional organizations, with approval by the VP of the division. The guidelines are subjective but in the end, participation must support the growth of the business. Renewal is reviewed on an annual basis to determine the cost:benefit ratio.

John Homoelle, Director of New Technology and HERA, Michelman Inc.
We generally do reimburse for trade association memberships. Part of the value of that, quite frankly, is that such memberships usually allow for discounted fees to attend conferences sponsored by these organizations that essentially pay for the membership cost. So there is value in that. The networking realized in such conferences also pays off well in terms of opportunity, relationship building and idea generation. When someone does ask to be reimbursed for a membership fee, it is generally an informal conversation with their manager. If value is seen, then approval is granted.

Nancy Adams, Senior Manager Diveristy / AAP / HR Client Services, Altria Client Services
Yes, Altria pays the professional society dues for its employees as part of our development planning process.

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