Employee absences and presenteeism are costing Canadian employers nearly $645 million annually, according to a new report by Manulife Financial Corp. The report — which analyzed data from nearly 50 Manulife group benefits plan sponsor clients, as well as survey responses from more than 4,900 employees — found an average of 48 days per employee were […]
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, employers will likely start to see more chronic diseases in their employee population and should consider proactive strategies for supporting workers’ overall health, said Peter Nord, chief medical officer at Medcan, during Benefits Canada’s 2023 Chronic Disease at Work conference in early February. “Employees are looking around for […]
Multiple sclerosis, which tends to strike at the height of people’s working years, can have a significant impact on their productivity at work, as well as an opportunity cost of being unable to do the work they want to do, said Larry Lynd, professor at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, during […]
Employers can leverage choice and financial education to help close the retirement gap among the Black, Indigenous and people of colour community, says Janice Holman, a principal at Eckler Ltd. A 2021 study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which analyzed data from the 2016 census, found racialized seniors were most reliant on public […]
Benefits plans tend to support employees dealing with either mild or severe mental-health symptoms, but an entire middle category of plan members lack a treatment option geared toward their moderate symptoms. As such, plan sponsors should think about matching services with severity when they’re considering which mental-health programs to incorporate into their benefits plans, said […]
Almost half (48 per cent) of Canadian employees are experiencing at least one work-related mental-health risk factor, according to a new report by Manulife Corp. The report also highlighted that 16 per cent of working hours (or 41.2 days) were lost in 2021 due to absences and presenteeism. In addition, mental fatigue was the No. […]
As Canadian employees face rising inflation and interest rates, C.F. Crozier & Associates Inc. is helping ease employees’ financial worries by offering benefits that appeal to staff at every stage of their lives. The time employees spend at work is just one stop along their personal and professional growth journey, says Nick Mocan, president of Crozier. […]
When Nasreen, a 32-year-old marketing manager at a Toronto firm, started to suffer from anxiety and depression related to her isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, her manager and colleagues took notice. Nasreen, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, was experiencing increased presenteeism and absenteeism as she suffered from an increasing number of […]
Migraine affects 12 to 15 per cent of Canadians, said Dr. Elizabeth Leroux, a Montreal-based neurologist, president of the Canadian Headache Society and chair of Migraine Canada, during a webinar hosted by Benefits Canada and sponsored by Lundbeck Canada Inc. in October. According to the World Health Organization, a severe migraine attack is as disabling […]
Since shifting its employees to remote working at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Twitter Inc. adapted its fitness reimbursement benefit to the new virtual reality. Before the change, fitness was already a core part of the social media company’s suite of wellness benefits and perks, as well as part of its culture. In its […]