The burden of musculoskeletal disease has had a significant impact on the lives of Canadians at home and at work, said Alison Dantas, chief executive officer at Canadian Chiropractic Association during Benefits Canada‘s 2022 Chronic Disease at Work event in February. According to the World Health Organization, musculoskeletal conditions are the leading cause of disability around […]
This year, Canadian employers are marking Bell Canada’s Let’s Talk Day by addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the mental health of employees. The annual event, which began in 2010 to encourage discussions about mental health, is built on four pillars: mental-health research, workplace leadership, ending stigmas around mental health and advocating for mental-health […]
As the phenomenon of coronavirus long-haulers — individuals who display symptoms for months following infection — becomes more prominent amid the ongoing pandemic, plan sponsors are taking a flexible and individualized approach through their human resources practices and benefits offerings to support impacted plan members. Mike Mousseau, national well-being and engagement consultant at Arthur J. […]
When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, Fluor Canada was ready with ample mental-health supports for its employees, all thanks to a mental-health strategy the company had put in place years ago and has continued to build on. It began in 2018 when Fluor Canada’s newly appointed senior management team wanted to renew the […]
Shopify Inc. was awarded for its digital-first employee health and wellness strategy at Benefits Canada‘s 2021 Workplace Benefits Awards on Oct. 14. The technology company won the award in the Coronavirus and Benefits category for an employer with more than 5,000 employees. Although the organization already had a few remote workers, it swiftly transitioned all of its employees […]
With the Delta variant leading the coronavirus pandemic in a renewed surge, employers continue to have a surplus of challenges, regardless of whether or not they’re planning a return to the workplace. I discussed this latter challenge in my Editorial last month, but at the risk of heaping on more doom and gloom, it may […]
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ottawa Community Housing Corp. battened down the hatches and focused on addressing any absence management issues before they occurred. Now, Cindy Newell, the company’s director of human resources, says OCH is expecting to see fewer disability leaves post-pandemic, thanks to a proactive absence and disability management strategy […]
As the country began shutting down to focus on beating back the coronavirus at the height of the pandemic in March 2020, people with chronic health conditions fell to the back of the health-care line. “While all Canadians probably faced — to some extent — a negative impact due to some of the public health […]
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Julie Gaudry and her colleagues in the industry braced themselves for a surge in disability claims that never came to fruition. “We didn’t know what the prevalence of this virus would be . . . and how significantly it would make people ill,” said Gaudry, head of group […]
While the rates of drug and disability claims are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, employers are still contending with the impact of the coronavirus crisis on their benefits plans. Following the declaration of the pandemic in March 2020, there was a subsequent surge in drug claims attributed to medication stockpiling, said Frédéric Leblanc, strategic advisor […]