Chapter 13: Employee Benefits and Services Flashcards
Strategic role of employee benefits
- indirect financial payments given to employees
- may include supplementary health and life insurance, vacation, pension, education plans, and discounts on company product.
- becoming larger part of total compensation
- useful in attracting talent
- increasingly important for aging workforce
six government-sponsored benefits
- Employment Insurance (EI)
- pay on termination of employment (serverance , mass layoff)
- leaves of absennce
- Canada/Quebec Pension Plan (CPP/QPP) -casual and migrants are excluded. Self employed included
- Workers compensation-work rlacted accidents or illnness
- vacations and holidays, paid breaks
Employee Insurance (EI)
- a federal program that provides income benefits if a person is unable to work through no fault of his or her own
- eligibility
- benefit period
- funding
- supplemental unemployment benefit (SUB)
pay on termination of employment
- does not apply to those of short-term contract or fired for just cause
- amount of payment varies according to jurisdiction and circumstances:
- pay in lieu of reasonable notice
- severance pay (Ontario and federal jurisdiction only)
- pay for mass layoffs (some jurisdictions )
Leaves of Absence
unpaid time off
- condition vary by jurisdiction
- employer must guarantee same or similar job when employee returns
- common types :
- maternity/parental leave
- parental/adoption leave
- bereavement leave- compassionate care leave
- maternity/parental leave
Canada/Quebec Pension Plan (C/QPP)
- programs that provide basic level of security on retirement
- three types of benefits
- retirement income
- survivor or death benefits
- disability benefits
- benefits based on individual contributions made
Workers compensation
- “no fault” insurance plan
- income and medical benefits to victims of work related accidents or illnesses, regardless of fault
- funded collectively by employers
- administered by jurisdictional workers’ compensation boards
Paid time off
- Vacantion - minimum amount of paid vacation must be provided to employees
- Holidays- varies by jurisdiction— minimum 5 days, maximum 9
- Paid Breaks- uninterrupted break within a work day–e.g. 30 minute break on a shift over 5 hours
Voluntary Employer -Sponsered
- life insurance
- supplementary healthcare/medical insurance
- short-term disability and sick leave plans
- long-term disability
- sabbaticals
- retirement benefits
supplementary healthcare/medical insurance
- supplements provincial healthcare plans
- group rates lower than individual rates
- employee usually pays a yearly deductible amount
- usually includes prescription drugs, private/semi-private hospital rooms, other health costs not covered by provincial plans
- may include dental, vision care, hearing aids
Reducing health benefits costs
increase amounts paid by employees
- restrict drugs paid for by plan
- health promotion
- risk-assessment programs
- health care spending accounts (HCSA)
Short-term diability
- provides income to employees when absent due to non-work related injury or illness
- requires medical certificate
- usually covered by insurance company
-sick leave plans
- provides income for 2 or 3 days
- usually a specified number of sick days per year
long term disability plans
- income to employees for asence due to non-work related long-term injury or illness
- usually 50% to 75% of pay
- accelerating trend in claims
- disability management
- mental health issues are leading cause of disability
sabbaticals
- time off to rejuvenate or pursue personal goals
- usually unpaid
- helps retain employees and avoid burnout
defined benefit pension plan
A plan that contains a formula for determining retirement benefits.
defined contribution pension plan
A plan in which the employer’s contribution to the employees’ retirement fund is specified.