As private equity becomes a more sizeable part of Canadian pension portfolios, the British Columbia Investment Management Corp.’s resources and staffing are growing with it. In April 2016, when Jim Pittman joined the BCI as its senior vice-president of private equity, his group comprised six or seven people. Three and a half years later, the […]
Ceridian HCM Inc.’s director of employee engagement and culture discusses flexible working, parental leave and family bike rides. Q. What top challenges do you face in your role? A. Our team’s area of focus means the tightening labour market will keep us busy in the coming years. Our greatest challenges are identifying programs . . […]
Eight hundred unionized employees of Regina-based Co-op Refinery remain locked out after contract negotiations stalled. The refinery, which is part of Federated Co-operatives Ltd., locked out members of Unifor Local 594 on Dec. 5. Unifor said Co-op is demanding major concessions on the employees’ defined benefit pension. Currently, the DB plan is fully funded by Co-op, but […]
The union representing 33 employees of the Northumberland County social services department says the county is attempting to weaken employees’ short-term disability leave and remove their right to work a compressed workweek. On Dec. 12, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3725 began contract negotiations with the county using a provincially appointed conciliator. Union members […]
More than half of Canadians say they’ve witnessed at least one instance of inappropriate sexual behaviour at work, according to a new report by Statistics Canada. The report on gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour found men were slightly more likely (56 per cent) than women (53 per cent) to have witnessed this behaviour in a work […]
The Manitoba government has proposed changes to the provincial Pension Benefits Act that will allow the creation of in-plan solvency reserve accounts for defined benefit pension plans registered in the province. The amendments would permit plan sponsors to withdraw funds from the reserve account when the plan is in surplus and would prohibit them from […]
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint from a Molson Coors Beverage Co. retiree who alleged the company’s employee benefits plan was discriminatory on the basis of age. The tribunal found providing reduced benefits to employees over the age of 65 isn’t considered discrimination under the province’s Human Rights Code. The decision […]
iA Financial Group is launching a pilot project to help benefits plan members with medication adherence. The Quebec City-based insurer will offer access to mobile app MedHelper to a few thousand plan members who are taking three or more medications on a daily basis. The plan members can import the list of drugs they take into the […]
To improve employee health and nutrition habits, HelloFresh Canada is taking staff out of the kitchen and into an online classroom — and then back into the kitchen. Employees of the Toronto-based meal-kit company can take interactive health and wellness courses through an online wellness portal to accumulate credits towards purchasing wellness rewards. The courses include modules on improving […]
It’s no surprise that FreshBooks takes its employees’ financial literacy seriously. The Toronto-based accounting software firm regularly holds lunch-and-learn workshops and hosts subject manner experts on a wide range of financial wellness topics, including investing basics and ethical investing, mortgages, building up savings and several aspects of tax preparation during tax season. It also offers […]