Saskatchewan is the latest province to introduce legislation providing protected leave for victims of domestic violence. Introduced on Dec. 6, 2017, the bill received royal assent the following day. The new provision allows for a maximum of 10 days of unpaid leave, whether the violence is directed at the employee personally, their children or a person for whom […]
Institutional investors should anticipate next year to be one of increasing volatility.
Canada is the eighth-largest investor in new coal projects around the world, according to a new report by German non-profit organization Urgewald. Of the top 100 investors in companies developing new coal plants listed in the organization’s report, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec ranked No. 72, with $433 million invested. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board just […]
The majority of global institutional investors anticipate 2018 will be a year of increasing volatility in both the bond (70 per cent) and stock (78 per cent) markets, according to Natixis Investment Managers. Its latest survey, which polled 500 institutional investors in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, found that 72 per cent of […]
As the federal government gets ready to boost employment insurance benefits for new parents on Dec. 3, the provinces have been busy updating their parental leave policies to align with the changes. Under the federal changes, Canadian employees with a newborn or newly adopted child will be able to choose between the existing employment insurance rate of 55 […]
It’s said that laughter is the best medicine. At consultancy Accompass Inc., a good belly laugh, among other activities, is earning employees extra points they can translate into dollars for their wellness accounts. “We do focus on wellness with our clients, and we really wanted to ramp up what we do in-house,” says Judy Buckley, vice-president of […]
While the discussions around the reasons employees need to miss work are getting more specific in many provinces, leave options remain fuzzy to non-existent from a government perspective for many emergency scenarios. On Wednesday, Ontario passed a new bill that includes expanding personal emergency leave to 10 days per year for all employees, with at least two paid […]
The Ontario government has introduced a bill that, if passed, will enact several changes to the Pension Benefits Act. “This is a significant step,” says Stephanie Kalinowski, a partner at Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP, of Bill 177. “Some of these items we’ve been waiting on for a number of years.” First, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of […]
A Japanese marketing firm is giving non-smokers an additional six vacation days per year. Piala Inc. originally got the idea from employees who complained their smoking co-workers took more breaks and were less productive as a result. “One of our non-smoking staff put a message in the company suggestion box earlier in the year saying that […]
Pension arrangements for politicians have long been controversial, but at least in the case of members of Parliament, they’ve begun footing an equal share of the bill. In fact, pension contribution rates by federal politicians have more than doubled in the last five years, according to the latest actuarial report on the pension plan for federal […]