Globally mobile employees may be feeling more discouragement, burnout and stress during the coronavirus pandemic compared to their domestic peers. Indeed, outside of the crisis, expatriate employees are generally more prone to these hurdles, said Nancy Brown, national sales director for Canada at Metlife Worldwide Benefits, in a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2020 Plan Sponsor Week earlier […]
While intangible assets like human capital and culture are increasingly at the forefront of employers’ concerns, frameworks to manage these factors are lagging, according to a new paper by Willis Towers Watson and the World Economic Forum. As the world resets to a new reality amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it noted, it will be critical to an […]
Some employees are seeing less value in their benefits and are less confident in their employers’ ability to provide them, according to a new survey by the Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. The survey polled U.S. workers in March 2020 and again in June. In March, 80 per cent of survey respondents said they value […]
Texas-based Insurance Zebra is stepping up for employee wellness by helping them welcome furry friends into their lives. The insurer has added a $300 annual benefit for employees adopting a new dog or cat and encouraging staff to take paid time off for “paw-ternity” leave. “There was a time a while ago when I took my […]
The coronavirus pandemic is fundamentally changing the future of work and, very likely, the nature of employer-sponsored benefits and pension plans. Looking to the end of the crisis, Canadian consultants see an array of major changes on the horizon, from more flexible benefits plans and mental-health care to an outsourcing of pension administration and the […]
The pandemic changed our world and our jobs overnight and stretched compassion, empathy and flexibility to the limit. There has never been a better time to reconsider everything about employee benefits. For me as a benefits consultant, the crisis has highlighted how unprepared the typical benefits plan is to truly support the needs of employees in […]
Even as Canada begins to reopen from coronavirus lockdown, uncertainty remains high and Canadians need employer mental-health supports more than ever. According to Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s latest mental-health index, Canadians’ mental-health score sat at negative 11 in June. The index measures the score based on a pre-2020 benchmark of 75. While June’s score was one […]
Employers across Canada were forced to adjust their Pride celebrations in June as the coronavirus pandemic necessitated social distancing and most traditional parades and events were cancelled. “[The coronavirus] forced us to think about how to still create these communities we’re trying to build,” says Meryem Benslimane, equity education advisor at McGill University in Montreal. This year, the university took […]
For many employers, the newly digital office environment necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic can be awkward, especially for recent graduates entering career-track jobs for the firm time. “Personally, I’m saddened by the situation for a number of reasons, but certainly for those students that are graduating and looking for summer internships, . . . hiring […]
While nearly half (47 per cent) of Canadian employees described their health benefits plan as excellent or very good, this number is at the low end of results gathered since 2006, according to the 2020 Sanofi Canada health-care survey. Over the 15-year period in which the survey has been conducted, results have ranged between 47 […]