How actively do you promote your benefits plan? Do you fire off emails reminding employees to get their annual dental check-up? Post warnings when claim deadlines are approaching? Tweet about the benefits of your massage therapy coverage?
If you haven’t told your plan members about Carrigan v. Carrigan Estate, you’re not alone. Not only did the original decision catch the industry off-guard, a recent interpretation of the decision by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario has left plan sponsors with more questions than answers.
Plan sponsors have had to make some tough decisions about their pension and benefit plans in recent years. As a result, many of them have invested considerable time and effort figuring out how best to communicate bad news to members. But they haven’t always given the same consideration to communicating good news—and missed a valuable opportunity.
In all the talk about employee engagement around pensions and benefits (or lack thereof), one important fact seems to have fallen off our industry’s collective radar: pensions and benefits are boring‒and even downright depressing.
The onset of statement season can strike fear and loathing in the heart of even the most seasoned pension administrator. Some get a headache just thinking about the countless hours of painstaking data checking that lie ahead. There’s no doubt that accuracy is paramount when it comes to statement production. After all, potential lawsuits aside, […]
While the efforts of most provinces to stem the decline DB plans haven’t gone beyond softening some funding requirements, New Brunswick has quietly taken the bold step of introducing a new pension model.
No matter how you slice it, being asked if you’re normal can be disconcerting. But pension plan sponsors seem to have no qualms asking members to declare if they are normal. And provincial pension regulators aren’t shying away from the practice either.
Disclosure—it’s a word that’s popping up with increasing frequency in the pension world. In fact, it’s hard to turn around these days without tripping over the term. Part of the reason is the growing amount of ink allocated to disclosure requirements in both pension legislation and industry guidelines.
What do you do when you have a growing funding shortfall, an apprehensive membership, and virtually no communications infrastructure or budget? You set up a Facebook page, of course—at least that’s what Gord Graham, executive director for the Auto Sector Retirees Health Care Trust (asrTrust) did.
Why now, when money is tight, are more and more employers turning to outside help with communication? At a basic level, the reasons are simple enough.