The beginning of the coronavirus pandemic was the catalyst Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. needed to breathe new life into its employee wellness strategy. While the public health crisis altered the traditional workplace in many ways, it also inspired employers to listen to employees about the well-being supports they needed most, says Lito Charet, the organization’s […]
Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, health-care spending and wellness accounts have been vital tools in employers’ support toolboxes. Whether it’s increasing the dollar amount allotted to these accounts or broadening the eligible services covered under wellness accounts, employers are maximizing these offerings to help employees endure the prolonged public health crisis. Since HCSAs […]
Best Buy Canada Ltd. is making its remote working model permanent for its 1,200 corporate office workers. Corporate employees began working remotely in the third week of March 2020 after the company reported its first positive case of the coronavirus at its Vancouver-based headquarters. Workers adjusted quickly as videoconferencing became the new normal, says Chris Taylor, […]
SAP Canada is celebrating Black History Month with events that bring employees together to focus on their health and wellness. During the month of February, the organization is rolling out many events rooted in physical and mental-health awareness. These include: a keynote presentation by Shoshana Johnson — the first Black American, female prisoner of war — on […]
Unilever Canada’s holistic approach to supporting employees’ health and well-being throughout the coronavirus pandemic scored the company a win at Benefits Canada’s 2021 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 14. The organization was awarded in the Coronavirus and Benefits category for an employer with fewer than 5,000 employees. Unilever’s global well-being framework is based on four […]
Employees at several Indigo Books & Music Inc. stores across Canada are unionizing, as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has “highlighted the precarity of retail work in general and how little say workers have in rapidly changing work environments. “Joining [United Food and Commercial Workers Canada] provided security and gave workers a voice without fear of retaliation,” […]
When SAP Canada’s offices fully reopen, it will adopt a flexible work model, as well as guidelines that aim to define what hybrid work means in the post-coronavirus pandemic workplace. When the global pandemic was declared last March, SAP Canada temporarily shut down its six offices in Canada. Like most companies, the shift to 100 per […]
The Bank of Montreal is empowering employees to become allies for their co-workers in the LGBTQ2S+ community. As part of its Zero Barriers to Inclusion 2025 strategy, released in September 2020, BMO launched its Road to Allyship training program to help employees on their own journey to allyship during Pride Month this June. The program […]
Effective communications has become a necessity for employers since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. At Collective Arts Brewing Ltd., it’s also helping the company ensure staff safety and streamline the way they receive information. When the global pandemic was first declared in March 2020, Jenn Pavicich, the brewer’s vice-president of human resources, legal and […]
When CGI Group Inc. launched its mental-health and wellness program six years ago, its primary focus was on education and reducing stigma. Since then, the strategy has evolved, becoming more data-driven, says Marie-Soleil Ferland, the global information technology company’s health and wellness lead in Canada. To find the underlying issues driving claims, the organization looks […]