Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, health-care spending and wellness accounts have been vital tools in employers’ support toolboxes. Whether it’s increasing the dollar amount allotted to these accounts or broadening the eligible services covered under wellness accounts, employers are maximizing these offerings to help employees endure the prolonged public health crisis. Since HCSAs […]
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, […]
Canadian employers are turning their focus to updating their benefits plans and ensuring a strong employee experience in an effort to address the challenges employees are facing in the coronavirus pandemic and to attract key talent in a tight labour market. “Many companies are adding new services to their benefits plans to support their employees […]
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 […]
A majority (92 per cent) of Canadian employees feel they’re at risk of experiencing burnout as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, according to a new survey by Mercer. The survey, which polled 11,000 employers and employees from 16 countries, found 59 per cent of employer respondents are concerned about high employee sickness/absence rates and remote […]
Canadian employers looking to redesign their benefits plans are in a holding pattern until they hear more details on the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party’s joint proposed national dental-care and pharmacare programs. Last week, the two parties announced plans to form an alliance until 2025 in order to deliver these programs […]
This month marks the two-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus a global pandemic. In some ways, we’ve come a long way since then, but in others, we’re hovering close to where it all started. One thing is for sure: the pandemic continues to create a through line in Benefits Canada’s content […]
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is launching an industry initiative to pool claims data and use advanced artificial intelligence tools to enhance the detection and investigation of benefits fraud. While all Canadian insurance companies have their own internal analytics to detect fraud within their book of business, the new initiative — led by […]
Sally Phuong took a four-week sabbatical from her job as an account executive at Sun Life Financial Inc. last year so she could participate in a professional floral design program at the Canadian Institute of Floral Design in Toronto. Phuong, 37, plans to retire at 55 from Sun Life and open her own floral store. […]
The top three factors driving employee retention are benefits (34 per cent), a strong sense of culture (31 per cent) and belief in the senior leadership team (29 per cent), according to a new survey by the Predictive Index. The survey, which polled more than 300 U.S. executives, found career mobility (21 per cent), salary (17 […]