Flight Centre Travel Group’s efforts to support employee mental health amid the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a win at Benefits Canada’s 2023 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 20. The travel company won in the Mental-health program category for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees for its Healthwise program, which includes a […]
The option to work remotely can help employees get through flu season, but employers also need to ensure no one pushes themselves to work while sick, says Janet Candido, founder and principal at Candido Consulting Group. With more employees returning to the office, she says it’s crucial to encourage workers to take sick days because […]
As more employees return to the office following the coronavirus pandemic, a one-size-fits-all approach to dress codes no longer works, says Farzeen Mawji, national practice leader in inclusion and diversity at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. “[Employees] are certainly adapting to more business casual rather than formal business attire. I often tell people to think […]
Nine in 10 (89 per cent) U.S. defined benefit pension plan sponsors say they’re expecting to completely divest their plan liabilities in roughly four years, according to a new survey by MetLife Inc. The survey, which polled 250 DB plan sponsors, found nearly all (94 per cent) said the financial impacts of volatility and related risks […]
An article on the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey’s findings on plan members’ appreciation of health benefits was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. 72% of plan members appreciate health benefits more today than before pandemic: survey 2. 54% of benefits plan members currently live […]
While flexible working arrangements may render the traditional workday obsolete, concepts like triple-peak work hours may jeopardize the work-life balance employees are seeking. A report from Microsoft Corp. found triple-peak work hours — in which employees divide their workday over three separate blocks of time, including late in the evenings — are increasing in popularity. […]
Vancouver-based investment firm InvestX Financial Canada Ltd. is balancing flexibility, employee productivity and well-being by requesting all employees work onsite each Tuesday. The ‘Together Tuesdays’ initiative resulted from the challenge of aligning various teams’ schedules in order to make the best use of the time together, says Marcus New, founder and chief executive officer of […]
Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of Canadian benefits plan members say they appreciate their health benefits more today than they did before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. It found while this result is generally consistent across all cross tabulations, the biggest variation occurred regionally, with a high of 85 […]
After years of viewing diversity, equity and inclusion as a side-of-the-desk issue, Canadian employers are increasingly considering it a top priority and integrating their organizational DEI goals into their benefits plans. While employers have been introducing DEI initiatives for years, incorporating these goals into benefits plans had been neglected, according to multiple panellists during Benefits Canada’s […]
While the Nova Scotia Pension Services Corp. isn’t currently invested in frontier markets, the institutional investor is set to take its first steps towards investing in the sector. “Step one is getting [the board] more comfortable with frontier markets,” says Steve Mahoney, the organization’s chief investment officer, which includes the N.S. Teachers’ Pension Plan, the […]