More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of plan sponsors say they’re concerned about the coronavirus pandemic’s long-term impact on the cost of health benefits plans, up from 71 per cent in 2021, according to the 2022 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. Among these respondents, 31 per cent strongly agreed with this statement, up from 23 per cent […]
While ‘quiet quitting’ has emerged as a serious workplace issue over the last few months, it isn’t a new trend; rather, it’s long been a focus for human resources professionals, says Steve Pemberton, chief HR officer at Workhuman. “In the HR community, we call that disengaged. . . . It’s just been rebranded as ‘quiet quitting,'” he […]
Flexibility only goes so far, say two experts, and covers a small part of a healthy and respectful work culture. Tracy Fogale, senior manager of benefits at Kraft Heinz Canada: While flexibility is a critical way to retain employees, particularly women, in the workforce, it can’t tackle systemic issues such as the gender pay gap, […]
Many employees are engaged in a challenging “juggling act,” with about one in four Canadians aged 15 and older providing ongoing care to a family member or friend and about one in five caregivers spending 20 or more hours a week in that role, according to Sherry Hnatyshyn, managing director of Carepath. During a Benefits […]
Over two-thirds (66 per cent) of Canadian benefits plan members said they feel less connected to their co-workers and employers over the past year since shifting to remote working amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the 2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. That number rose for respondents who said they aren’t satisfied with their jobs (73 […]
As employers and their employees exit the coronavirus pandemic, they’ll be confronted with a host of new challenges, said Linda Duxbury, Chancellor’s professor in management at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, during the keynote session of Benefits Canada’s 2021 Benefits & Pension Summit this week. “Much like with a tsunami, [smaller] waves are going […]
The coronavirus pandemic is fundamentally changing the future of work and, very likely, the nature of employer-sponsored benefits and pension plans. Looking to the end of the crisis, Canadian consultants see an array of major changes on the horizon, from more flexible benefits plans and mental-health care to an outsourcing of pension administration and the […]
The City of Mississauga’s acting senior manager of total rewards talks virtual health care, pension communications and spending time with family. Q. What top challenges do you face in your role? A. I think we can say there are two worlds: pre-coronavirus and post-coronavirus. In the current situation, the top challenge is making sure our […]
The pandemic changed our world and our jobs overnight and stretched compassion, empathy and flexibility to the limit. There has never been a better time to reconsider everything about employee benefits. For me as a benefits consultant, the crisis has highlighted how unprepared the typical benefits plan is to truly support the needs of employees in […]
The majority (95 per cent) of global employers said they include emotional and mental-health programs in their corporate well-being platforms, according to a new survey by Business Group on Health and Fidelity Investments Inc. The survey, which was fielded last fall and prior to the coronavirus pandemic, found the most common mental-health and well-being offerings […]