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Manulife supporting LGBTQ2S+ employees’ mental health, hosting Pride Month events

Manulife Financial Corp. is supporting its LGBTQ2S+ employees during Pride Month and beyond with speaker sessions and ongoing enhancements to its benefits plan. Throughout June, the insurer held numerous webinars, speaker series and learning sessions that continue to educate employees and support the company’s LGBTQ2S+ workers, said Michelle Taylor-Jones, the company’s global chief diversity, equity and […]

  • June 28, 2022 June 27, 2022
  • 09:00

2022 Top 100 Pension Funds Report: Pension plan sponsors incorporating DEI into plan philosophy, design and communications

Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives aren’t a new concept for employers — just ask any human resources professional. However, in a changing world marked by growing calls for social justice, many plan sponsors are extending these initiatives beyond workplace conduct and employee benefits into retirement planning, merging diversity with their pension plans’ designs and communications […]

  • June 24, 2022 June 23, 2022
  • 08:55

Workplace Benefits Awards win boosting employee engagement for 2021 pension winner

Scotiabank’s win at Benefits Canada’s 2021 Workplace Benefits Awards led to increased employee engagement and peer recognition, says Rosemary Hatnay, director and head of total rewards solutions and global human resources services. The bank won in the Pension plan communications category for its streamlined approach to its defined benefit plan statements, making essential information more accessible to plan […]

  • June 3, 2022 June 2, 2022
  • 09:00

Scotiabank supporting employee financial well-being with pension info sessions

Scotiabank is supporting its employees’ financial well-being with a week of information sessions in June. Ayman Alvi, director of global benefits at Scotiabank, says the sessions taking place the week of June 20 will focus on all aspects of financial well-being, including the bank’s pension plan and other financial benefits available to employees. “These events have […]

  • May 30, 2022 May 27, 2022
  • 09:00

Metro, Unifor deal includes DB pension benefit increase

The union representing roughly 900 workers at Metro Inc. warehouses in Etobicoke, Ont. has ratified a new 4.5-year collective agreement that includes pension and benefits gains. Sandeep Kakan, director of pension and benefits at Unifor, says the agreement includes an increase in the defined benefit pension plan’s flat-rate benefit, retroactive to 2001, as well as […]

  • April 29, 2022 April 28, 2022
  • 09:00

Toronto software company offering virtual veterinarian service to pet-owning employees

A Toronto-based software company is offering a virtual veterinarian service through its benefits program. Nicola Watson, human resources manager at Tribalscale Inc., says pet-owning employees can use the service, operated by Vetster Inc., to schedule up to four virtual vet visits per year. She notes the offering is in line with TribalScale’s decision to shift […]

  • April 27, 2022 April 26, 2022
  • 09:00

Calculation for commuted pension values confusing to some plan members: actuary

Changes to the calculation of commuted pension values in Canada are making it more challenging for defined benefit pension plan members to determine an optimal day to quit their job and receive the maximum payout, says one actuary. Peter Gorham, an actuary at JDM Actuarial Expert Services Inc., says while he used to point plan […]

  • April 6, 2022 April 5, 2022
  • 09:00

Employee feedback key to assessing impact of workplace mental-health supports

While Canadian employers have spent millions of dollars to address and support employee mental health during the coronavirus pandemic, the co-author of a new study says employee feedback is key to addressing gaps in the improvement of workplace psychological health and safety. “We’ve got random acts of wellness and we’re spending millions of dollars on […]

  • March 25, 2022 March 25, 2022
  • 09:00

2022 Drug Plan Trends Report: High-cost drugs, DEI shaping drug plans

This month marks the second anniversary of the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a 24-month span that has had profound effects on the health of benefits plan members and the status and structure of their plans. For drug plans in particular, several trends have come to light — or have accelerated — during the course […]

  • March 18, 2022 March 22, 2022
  • 08:55

Toronto non-profit compensating interviewees for their time

A Toronto-based non-profit organization is compensating prospective employees by paying them for their time during interviews. FoodShare Toronto’s new policy, which took effect March 1, pays interviewees a fixed rate of $75, regardless of the position. In addition, if an interview requires the candidate to complete an assignment or prepare a presentation, they’re also compensated […]

  • March 15, 2022 March 11, 2022
  • 09:00