Do you ever wonder why your employees change jobs? Sure you do, but it’s probably not for the reasons you think. According to Watson Wyatt’s Strategic Rewards report, employers’ perceptions of why employees leave are notably different from employees’ actual reasons for leaving. In the study, which gathered responses from 175 companies throughout Europe, employers […]
No employee likes a “hovering” boss. You know the kind—arriving at your cubicle every hour to ask, “How’s the project coming along?” But when it comes to mental illness in the workplace, the boss should be on the lookout for “at risk” employees. “Mental illness is one of the commonest forms of illness and hits […]
Effective communication programs are not only important in the day-to-day workings of a business but, as a new study indicates, they can also have a financial impact for shareholders. Based on responses from 264 companies, Watson Wyatt’s 2007/2008 Communication ROI study found that companies with the most effective programs had a 47% higher total return […]
If governments ever decide to implement legislation to restrict investments (for example, protectionist policies) of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs)—funds used for investment purposes to benefit a country’s economy and citizens—could the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) be restricted as well? Gail Cook-Bennett, chair of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), said the board is concerned […]
Refilling our prescriptions and taking our medications properly can be a challenge at the best of times. We all need a reminder now and then to follow what the doctor ordered. That “reminder” can come in the form of a drug adherence program. Rx Canada, a pharmacy-sponsored organization that devises such programs, highlighted its Health […]
The latest survey from Buck Consultants(Buck)forecasts that the most popular healthcare coverage plans in the U.S. will increase at double-digit levels through the rest of this year and into next. In its 18th National Health Care Trend Survey, Buck measured the projected average yearly increase in employer-sponsored healthcare benefits costs. The result was an increase […]
Depression in the workplace is not going away. Almost 500,000 Canadians aged 25 to 64 who were employed at the time that the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey(CCHS)data was collected had experienced a “major depressive episode” in the previous year. In addition, another one million workers(8% of the workforce)had experienced depression at some point in […]
In its annual Pension and Benefits Law Update, Hicks Morley presented a list of “hot topics” yesterday at the Intercontinental Hotel in Toronto. Here are a few highlights. Get Your Supplement OMERS has introduced its new supplement to its primary pension plan for the emergency services sector(firefighters, police and paramedics). Although costs of the supplementary […]
Management of defined contribution(DC)pension plans is always key, but one area that is often neglected is “benefit adequacy,” said Susan L. Nickerson, a partner in the Pension & Benefits Practice Group with Hicks Morley law firm in Toronto. Benefit adequacy could present potential lawsuits for plan administrators, she said, if administrators don’t communicate to members […]
A panel of three experts gathered at The Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto today to discuss the results of Desjardins Financial Security’s Rethink Retirement survey. The national survey, which asked 1,500 Canadians(aged 18 and over)about their preparedness for retirement, indicated that 53% have a retirement savings plan and 48% have a retirement spending plan. However, according […]