Employees at several Indigo Books & Music Inc. stores across Canada are unionizing, as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has “highlighted the precarity of retail work in general and how little say workers have in rapidly changing work environments. “Joining [United Food and Commercial Workers Canada] provided security and gave workers a voice without fear of retaliation,” […]
The majority (87 per cent) of U.S. millennial employees are more interested in certain benefits this year, with life insurance (39 per cent) topping the list, followed by financial planning tools (34 per cent), dental insurance (31 per cent) and legal plans (29 per cent), according to a new survey by Rainmakers CSI for MetLife […]
Employer-provided medical benefits costs in Canada will rise seven per cent in 2022, according to a new survey by Aon. The annual global medical trend rates survey found the expected increase for Canadian employer-sponsored medical plan costs is due to a combination of higher costs for dental care, paramedical expenses and prescription drugs. It was conducted […]
Sun Life is buying DentaQuest, a U.S.-based provider of dental benefits, for $3.1 billion. The company, which offers dental benefits through employers, will become part of Sun Life’s U.S. business. The insurer said the acquisition will more than double the size of its U.S. employee benefits business by revenue. DentaQuest currently has more than 33 million members in 36 […]
Canadian insurers paid out more than $97 billion in benefits from life and health insurance products in 2020, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. The period, which included the first nine months of the coronavirus pandemic, included $420 million paid out for psychology-related claims to support mental health, up 24 […]
Uber Technologies Inc. is revealing more details of a labour model it’s pitching to Canadian provinces and territories, a model that’s drawn opposition from some worker groups. The Flexible Work+ model the San Francisco-based tech giant has pushed since March asks provinces and territories to force Uber and other app-based companies to create a self-directed […]
Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice has certified a class-action lawsuit against Uber Technologies Inc., which advances a fight to get some of the platform’s Canadian couriers and drivers recognized as employees. The class action was certified by Judge Justin Paul Perell in a decision released late Thursday afternoon and stems from a court filing made […]
Many employees may be dreaming of a carefree retirement following many years in the trenches — but they’ll likely have to keep dreaming if they don’t have first-rate, post-retirement health and dental insurance coverage. Many employers provide supplemental health insurance (drug, dental, extended health and out-of-country medical) as part of comprehensive packages of employee benefits, […]
The Canada Life Assurance Co. is acquiring ClaimSecure Inc., a health-care management firm that provides health and dental claim management services. The acquisition increases the number of plan members served by Canada Life by 1.25 million individuals, including plan members and their dependants, with annual claims payments of more than $1.2 billion, according to a […]
Green Shield Canada is teaming up with SmileDirectClub Inc. to deliver in-network coverage of virtual orthodontic care to its dental-plan members. “We continue to be a leading advocate for virtual health technologies and the impact they can have on the health care experience for Canadians, especially during the ongoing health crisis,” said David Willows, Green […]