Macroeconomic trends such as longer lives, a lack of access to pensions and retirement supports, a low-growth environment, and persistent lack of financial literacy and trust in financial markets are creating a significant retirement savings gap between what people require in retirement and what they’ve actually saved. This is a global issue. But in Canada alone, […]
The Canadian government will discontinue the Canada savings bond and Canada premium bonds program on Nov. 1, 2017. While existing bonds will continue as usual until they mature or the purchaser redeems them, the option of buying them through a payroll savings program will now be off the table. The program reached peak popularity in the 1980s, but […]
While the sustainability of defined benefit pension plans have long been a central talking point in the industry, they took a real hit during the 2008 financial crisis, a sting many plans feared would linger in public opinion. “DB plans were obviously affected. Actually, all retirement savings plans were impacted,” says Darryl Mabini, senior director of growth and […]
While mental health is often a sensitive area, the Co-operators Group Ltd. aimed to bring the issue into the open by introducing an online Yammer group as a safe place for employees to talk, share information and support one another. “It’s a way for us to have those organic conversations crop up from our staff,” said Stacey Kennedy, […]
For Manulife, building its benefits plan communication strategy was all about choice. Recognizing there are different ways employees prefer to access information, it rolled out a strategy that ensured a number of different communications options were available. This strategy helped Manulife earn the benefits plan communications award at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Workplace Benefits Awards in Toronto on Oct. 12. […]
By presenting pension information in simpler, bite-sized chunks and introducing a colourful character, the Alberta Local Authorities Pension Plan undertook a digital revamp that earned it the pension communications award at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Workplace Benefits Awards last week. Facing the challenge of engaging members on the difficult topic of pensions, the organization took on the task of […]
A newly hired business graduate, predicted by senior managers of a major bank to have significant potential, left the organization after one year. He sued for harassment and bullying, saying among other things that he had a manager who set out to prove he had limited potential and frequently assigned him impossible tasks and deadlines, […]
As employee engagement garners more attention as a key performance indicator, it’s also weaving its way into the way employers design and construct their workplace policies and benefits programs. There are many compelling reasons why organizations focus their attention on employee engagement. There’s clear evidence that high engagement leads to improved organizational results, such as […]
The Michael Garron Hospital is adding to its diversity and inclusion program by creating a gender diversity policy to support employees in the workplace and help them from a patient-care perspective. The Toronto hospital began developing its diversity and inclusion program with employee training around lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities in 2014 and […]
How does an employer go about creating a mental-health strategy? In the case of Ontario’s Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, it brought its own employees into the conversation. Speaking during an event hosted by Manulife Financial Corp. in Toronto on Thurday, Lilian Riad-Allen, a senior consultant for the mental health and wellness program at the […]