The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion has catapulted employers of all types into the most divisive corner of politics. Some companies that stayed silent last month — when a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico — have spoken up for the first time, including […]
The union representing roughly 100 employees at Pilkington Glass in Whitby, Ont. has ratified a three-year agreement that includes benefits and pension gains. Members of Unifor Local 222 voted 84 per cent in favour of ratifying the agreement, which includes a short-term disability weekly benefit of $400 and two paid personal emergency leave days per […]
Heading into the summer months, parents of young or school-aged children are likely juggling work with gaps in their childcare needs. While many working parents are adept at cobbling together childcare week by week, sometimes plans don’t quite come together. Some may experience barriers to securing all the care they need due to gaps in […]
Employees are experiencing more pain than ever before, with nearly half of the workforce diagnosed with some form of chronic pain lasting more than three months, according to Dr. Ayla Azad, chief experience officer at the Canadian Chiropractic Association, during a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2022 Benefits & Pension Summit on June 1. Citing several different […]
Scotiabank is marking Pride Month by setting new targets for LGBTQ2S+ representation and connecting employees with volunteering opportunities in a range of communities. Dominic Cole-Morgan, senior vice-president of total rewards with responsibility for diversity and inclusion, says the bank is working toward a representation target of seven per cent in Canada by 2025, noting the […]
Employees everywhere are redefining what work means to them and redrawing their expectations of employers. Mental-health supports and flexible working options are now imperative if an organization is to remain competitive. To these ends, workplaces need a mental-health strategy. But a workplace mental-health strategy isn’t ping pong tables and a snack bar. It requires real […]
It’s become a common sight: jubilant Starbucks Corp. workers celebrating after successful votes to unionize at dozens of U.S. stores. But when the celebrations die down, a daunting hurdle remains: to win the changes they seek — like better pay and more reliable schedules — unionized stores must sit down with Starbucks and negotiate a […]
The union representing employees at a Hitachi Construction Truck Manufacturing Ltd. plant in Guelph, Ont. has ratified an agreement that includes pension and benefits gains. Unifor Local 1917 Hitachi unit members voted 95 per cent in favour of the three-year collective agreement, which includes a $0.25 contribution increase to the defined benefit pension plan, from […]
Contract food services and custodial workers at Canada’s colleges and universities have less access to pensions and paid leave than their in-house colleagues, according to a new report by the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The report, which analyzed employment data from publicly funded post-secondary institutions, found only 23 per cent of contract food services employers […]
Benefits plans tend to support employees dealing with either mild or severe mental-health symptoms, but an entire middle category of plan members lack a treatment option geared toward their moderate symptoms. As such, plan sponsors should think about matching services with severity when they’re considering which mental-health programs to incorporate into their benefits plans, said […]