Contract negotiations are continuing between Chartwell Master Care and the union representing employees at an Ottawa-area retirement home, after the employer proposed cuts to paid sick days and changes to bereavement leave. The proposed cuts at Chartwell Stonehaven include a reduced annual cap on sick days — from 12 to six — for full-time employees, […]
The 830 locked-out employees at Reliance Home Comfort sites in Ontario are heading back to work after their union ratified a new contract with the company on June 30. The new collective agreement includes two new paid sick days, improvements to the extended health benefits cost-sharing and a one per cent increase to the matching […]
Lululemon Athletica Inc. is helping employees maintain physical and mental well-being amid the coronavirus pandemic with a series of wellness initiatives. In an emailed statement to Benefits Canada, Angela Wright, vice-president of health and wealth and organization planning at Lululemon, said the company increased its focus on employee well-being during the pandemic, with many existing […]
Manulife Financial Corp. and its subsidiary John Hancock is educating and thanking its employees for continuing to work hard amid these tumultuous times. This is the second year the companies have given staff an extra day off since a global coronavirus pandemic was first declared in March 2020. And this year, the company also held […]
While the rates of drug and disability claims are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, employers are still contending with the impact of the coronavirus crisis on their benefits plans. Following the declaration of the pandemic in March 2020, there was a subsequent surge in drug claims attributed to medication stockpiling, said Frédéric Leblanc, strategic advisor […]
Starbucks Corp. is offering all of its Canadian retail employees three temporary paid sick days from April 19 to Sept. 25. The move comes after Ontario announced a similar three-day sick leave policy that would reimburse employers up to $200 a day for what they pay out. Read: Ontario giving employees three paid sick days, […]
Employees affected by the coronavirus in British Columbia will qualify for up to three days of paid sick leave under proposed legislation that Premier John Horgan expects will plug holes in a federal plan and lay the groundwork for a permanent program. Horgan says the program will bridge the gap for workers between the time they first feel […]
While the debate over paid sick days intensifies across Canada, only two provinces currently offer this benefit on a permanent basis. On April 30, Ontario passed a three-day sick leave policy — to be administered through the Workplace Insurance and Safety Board — retroactive to April 19 and ending on Sept. 25. Employers will be […]
Workers in Ontario will soon be able access three paid sick days to help them self-isolate during the coronavirus pandemic, but critics said the policy announced April 28 falls far short of what’s required to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government had for months resisted intense pressure from health experts and advocates […]
As it becomes increasingly clear that workplaces are a key transmission location in the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, some Canadian employers are offering paid sick leave to their employees in the absence of government action. Paid sick leave benefits, which allow workers to call in sick without fear of losing a day’s pay, […]