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EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
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John D. Harkins
Employee Benefits & Pensions
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Gordon R. Hart
Employee Benefits & Pensions
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J. Wayne Koch
Employee Benefits & Pensions
Partner

Kevin L. Routley
Employee Benefits & Pensions
Partner

Leanne Bayley
Employee Benefits Consultant

About Us

A Message From Selectpath
As your employee benefits and group retirement advisor, we at Selectpath strive to provide our clients timely and useful information surrounding the ongoing governance and strategic planning associated with your employer sponsored plans. We want to hear from you! Tell us if you find these articles useful and applicable to your planning needs. Would you like more legislative updates? Would you like more opinion pieces? Email us at info@selectpath.ca.

Recent Court Rulings and Termination of Employees – How do Benefits Fit In?
Employers face a difficult challenge in determining a reasonable notice period for termination. Additionally, providing benefits to an employee during the notice period is clearly an obligation of the employer. The Egan v. Alcatel Canada Inc., [2006] O.J. No. 34 ("Egan") case upheld the responsibility of the employer to continue providing all employee benefits (including disability) during the "reasonable" notice period.

Simple right? Well, what is a reasonable notice period?

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What is Consumer Driven Healthcare?
Consumer driven healthcare (CDHC) refers to medical insurance plans that utilize health spending accounts or similar credit systems to pay for routine health care expenses while a high-deductible insurance plan protects them against catastrophic medical expenses. The high-deductible (stop-loss) policies are triggered when eligible expenses exceed the pre-determined deductible level, and the plan member is insured for the remainder of eligible expenses.

The system is referred to as consumer driven healthcare because the claims are paid using a consumer-controlled account versus a traditional fixed insured program with pre-determined coverage. The concept gives the plan member/patient greater control over their own health budget. Additionally the consumer will occupy the primary decision making role regarding the health care services they receive and in turn are reimbursed or pay out-of-pocket.

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Benefits Influence Employee Loyalty
Looking for loyal employees? Trying to attract new workers? If so, you may want to optimize your benefits plan.

According to the 6th annual MetLife Study of Employee Benefits Trends, 45% of employees say benefits were a contributing factor to their decisions to stay with their current employer, up from 33% a year ago. Also, an additional 33% of employees say benefits were one of the factors that attracted them to their current position, up from 28% last year.

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Companies Signal an Active Approach to Employee Health
The number of employers planning to get more directly involved in the individual health of their employees jumped 25 percentage points from last year, reflecting a trend to find more ways to cut costs, but employees are skeptical, according to a survey.

Conducted by Hewitt Associates, the survey polled more than 500 U.S. companies and revealed a fundamental shift in how they view healthcare. For the first time, keeping employees healthy was identified alongside costs as one of their top business and workforce issues. Eighty-eight percent of respondents plan to make investments in longer-term solutions aimed at improving the health and productivity of their workforce over the next three to five years, up from 63% last year.

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Employers Taking Action Against Costly Cancer Drugs
Employers are reacting to expensive cancer drug treatments that are more frequently being transferred from provincial health care plans to private ones, a recent online survey provided exclusively to EBNC by Hewitt Associates found.

New drugs, such as Gleevec (for leukemia) and Herceptin (for breast cancer), can cost $25,000-$50,000 per year for an employee requiring treatment. According to industry data, the number of prescriptions for cancer drugs has risen by more than 50% in the last four years. This presents a dilemma for employers who are trying to control drug-plan costs.

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Canadians Don't Know What It Costs To Retire
A Sun Life survey revealing that over 40% of Canadians do not know how much the need to retire, underscores the value of financial planning as an employee benefit.

Survey results show an equal number of Canadians believe they need $25,000 or less for retirement, as those who say they’ll need between $1 and $5 million. While the majority of working Canadians (52%) expect to be retired for at least 20 years, the study reveals that nearly nine million working Canadians don’t know how many years they’ll need their retirement savings to last.

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No communication, article, information or advice on this web site constitutes or implies in any way a solicitation of business. Please remember that while strategies outlined within this newsletter may be appropriate for some employers, you should always consult a benefits specialist to determine if they are appropriate for your company.