While the 2022 federal budget proposed funding for national dental care, the plan, as currently understood, lacks universality, would disrupt existing public and private dental care and threatens single-tier health care. According to a recent article in the Harm Reduction Journal, thousands of Canadians needlessly suffer from largely preventable oral conditions, mostly tooth decay and […]
The union representing 60 employees at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ajax, Ont. has ratified a three-year agreement that includes retirement and benefits gains. The agreement establishes a new group retirement program and adds a fifth week of vacation for members upon reaching 20 years of service. It also includes increases in dental and vision coverage […]
The union representing 120 employees at Metro Inc. warehouses in Ottawa has ratified a five-year agreement that includes multiple benefits gains. The agreement includes a 100 per cent increase for vision starting in 2023 — up to $500 per member and dependants — and a $1,000 increase to major dental care coverage, up to $2,500 […]
An article on how pension plans are approaching risk management was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Expert panel: Is risk management the new frontier in pension governance? 2. Sun Life completes acquisition of U.S. dental benefits provider 3. 44% of employers believe remote […]
Sun Life Financial Inc. has completed its previously announced acquisition of U.S.-based dental benefits provider DentaQuest. DentaQuest is now part of Sun Life’s U.S. business, which offers dental benefits through employers for their benefits plans and has an extensive national commercial dental network. The completion of the acquisition is expected to bring Sun Life U.S.’s total […]
It’s become a common sight: jubilant Starbucks Corp. workers celebrating after successful votes to unionize at dozens of U.S. stores. But when the celebrations die down, a daunting hurdle remains: to win the changes they seek — like better pay and more reliable schedules — unionized stores must sit down with Starbucks and negotiate a […]
The union representing 700 employees at Resolute Forest Products has ratified an agreement that includes benefits gains. Unifor members working in Resolute’s paper mills voted 90 per cent in favour of the four-year agreement. Vision and dental care will increase by $100 per year on Jan. 1, 2023 and dental will increase by another $100 on […]
The union representing employees at a Hitachi Construction Truck Manufacturing Ltd. plant in Guelph, Ont. has ratified an agreement that includes pension and benefits gains. Unifor Local 1917 Hitachi unit members voted 95 per cent in favour of the three-year collective agreement, which includes a $0.25 contribution increase to the defined benefit pension plan, from […]
Roughly two-fifths (37 per cent) of U.S. employers are increasing the quality of their existing benefits offerings to help with employee retention and attraction efforts, according to a survey by Principal Financial Services Inc. The survey, which polled 500 employers and 200 employees, found the top three enhanced benefits are short- and long-term disability insurance, […]
Employers, employees and benefits advisors alike have long struggled with the inefficient and largely paper-based approach to administrating benefits. Advisors face long wait times for quotes, employers face the annoyance of a slow onboarding process that prevents employees from accessing their benefits immediately after enrolment and employees can have difficulty submitting claims and face confusion […]