A global shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic gave Canadians an increase of unanticipated savings that led to a short period of stronger retirement savings contributions, says Amin Mawani, director of the Master of Health Industry Administration and professor of taxation at the Schulich School of Business at York University. It has been five years […]
Despite a fear of repercussions, more adults are recognizing that stepping back from work to deal with emotional burdens or psychological conditions that get in the way of their lives is a necessary choice, one that a growing number of employers recognize. ComPsych Corp., a provider of employee mental-health programs and absence management services, encourages […]
People leaders who are looking to improve their ‘adaptability quotient’ amid the ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war can draw upon lessons learned during the coronavirus pandemic, says Sachi Kittur, interim vice-president of people and culture at the Human Resource Professionals Association. “I think what COVID-19 taught us is that the lack of predictability, whether it’s in […]
While generation Z and millennial employees report the highest levels of satisfaction from flexible working arrangements, employees across all generations have increasingly embraced flexible work over the last five years, says Sandra Lavoy, regional vice-president at Robert Half Canada. “The pandemic completely shifted expectations and sentiments in the workplace and many people in older generations […]
When Nikelle Inman started a new job coaching first-generation college students, she looked forward to meeting with them one-on-one to talk about how to surmount obstacles and find resources to succeed. Instead, she and her fellow success coaches at a community college in North Carolina spent a year mired in paperwork, tasked with reviewing applications […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries is supporting employers with a new resource that focuses on the importance of early and proactive retirement planning. The resource covers several topics, such as how to build emergency funds while balancing short-term obligations with long-term goals, as well as developing sustainable retirement income strategies using personal savings, employer-sponsored retirement […]
The cumulative cost of mental illness is estimated to reach $2.5 trillion by 2041, according to a report by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation. The coronavirus pandemic led many to seek out help, which subsequently increased mental-health costs. “We saw people who were obviously quite isolated,” says Dr. Donna Ferguson, a clinical […]
An article on a series of court cases dealing with remote working arrangements in Quebec was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. Quebec’s approach to remote workers’ rights holds lessons for other provinces: lawyer 2. How […]
When the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, companies across Canada scrambled to shift their employees to home setups. For the dozen or so staff at Edmonton-based technology company Punchcard Systems, the new reality meant figuring out new patterns of how to communicate as they would have at their downtown office. […]
In the five years since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus pandemic, Canadian benefits plan sponsors have adapted their offerings and continue to apply many of the lessons learned over the course of the health crisis. Chris Zelasko, president of Peak Benefit Solutions Inc. says while his plan sponsor clients initially focused on the […]