Defined contribution plan sponsors are facing challenges that will shape the nature of their legal obligations to employees. Member communication is a key challenge, said Jon Marin, an associate in pension and benefits at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, during Benefits Canada’s 2019 Defined Contribution Investment Forum in Toronto on Sept. 27. “In the vast […]
When it comes to engaging employees on matters of financial and personal wellness, it’s increasingly clear one size no longer fits all. In a roundtable in Toronto on Oct. 17, the 2019 Workplace Benefits Awards finalists focused their discussion on how to make sure their various programs and communication efforts were resonating with the multiple generations and […]
WSP Canada Inc.’s innovative communications plan to increase employees’ awareness of its benefits plan enhancements netted it the benefits plan communications award at Benefits Canada‘s 2019 Workplace Benefits Awards in Toronto on Oct. 17. In addition to standard email and intranet articles, the professional services firm’s communications plan included using its chief executive officer’s weekly email missives to […]
While 80 per cent of employees said they want some type of financial education in the workplace, just 58 per cent of employers said they offer it and 25 per cent said they plan to offer it in the next two years, according to a new survey by Eckler Ltd. More than half (54 per […]
In October 2017, De Beers Canada senior management flew to the company’s remote Victor diamond mine near Attawapiskat, Ont., to tell its employees some tough but not unexpected news: the mine was slated to close in the first quarter of 2019. When the fly-in, fly-out operation opened in 2008, the company forecasted it would last […]
Fewer than half (48 per cent) of employees said they believe their employers are invested in improving the employee experience, according to a new survey by U.S.-based cloud computing company ServiceNow Inc. The survey also found 61 per cent of respondents rated their employers poorly based on a negative experience with personal leave. And only […]
While North American employers agree it’s important to provide health benefits to employees, many say their workers don’t know enough about what they offer, according to a new survey by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services. The survey, sponsored by digital benefits platform League Inc., polled 238 company executives. The majority (90 per cent) said they think health benefits are a way […]
When employees at Accenture begin a gender transition, they have access to a comprehensive suite of benefits. In 2011, the global consulting firm became one of the first companies in Canada to cover costs related to transitioning. Zoya Zayler, inclusion and diversity lead for Canada, says the organization worked with its benefits provider to design a fulsome and customizable […]
In the wise words of George Bernard Shaw, “the single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” When it comes to employer-provided benefits and pension plans, this phrase rings as true as it does in any other part of life. I believe that communication is the single most important and […]
In 2016, KPMG Canada’s benefits program was facing a perfect storm: the company was starting to see a change in its workforce’s needs; employees didn’t value some of its offerings, found the program difficult to understand and felt the pay and total rewards package weren’t competitive; and the organization’s new management team didn’t believe the […]