Animal Food Bank is a Canadian volunteer-dependant, non-profit providing pet food and supplies to pets in need. They also work as a support network to the animal welfare community, providing pet food and supplies to other organizations helping pets in need. Thanks to founder Nicole Frey and her team, thousands of pet owners across Canada no longer have to make the choice between feeding their pet or themselves. Nicole and her team have exemplified the power of collaboration by donating over 620,000 lbs of food to partner organizations throughout Western Canada.

They are challenging the status quo for other nonprofit organizations and leading the way for volunteer & employee care. By using Rise to sidestep the headaches of conventional benefits providers, Nicole and her team were able to unlock unexpected cost savings and streamline HR operations while starting the newest chapter for their organization.

Before Rise

Before joining forces with Rise Health, Animal Food Bank was volunteer-run and wasn’t able to offer any health benefits. But when Animal Food Bank received a "Community Recovery Services" grant to develop free-to-use software, Nicole was able to hire employees— and wanted to compensate them well. With her background in operations management, Nicole knew from her experience that they needed to get creative with employee compensation in order to stand out when hiring and retaining employees.

“Offering benefits is a very easy way for somebody like me to offer value to employees, especially in today's economy, even if we weren't a nonprofit. We're seeing all of these cutbacks and so benefits are a very easy way for organizations like mine to offer incentives to attract and keep their employees.”

However, the conventionally arduous (and expensive) process of acquiring group benefits would be an unwelcome burden, straining AFB's already limited resources. Simply put, Nicole didn’t have the time to court multiple brokers for quotes that could be out of her price range, or— due to the size of her organization— not get a quote at all. She’d experienced issues at past companies where conventional providers weren’t interested in taking on smaller organizations, or offered enticing rates for the first year that shot up drastically when it was time to renew.

This spurred Nicole to seek alternatives for payroll and benefits, leading her to the discovery of Rise Health.

Comprehensive benefits coverage made accessible

“The coverage was far better than what I thought we would get as a small fish in a giant pond.”

With a limited budget, Nicole was surprised to find Rise Health’s turn-key group benefits packages made it easy to pick up and implement. And better yet, they offered what her employees were looking for; things like massage, dental, mental health coverage and more. With her 15 years of experience in operations, she found that the coverage in the packages covered more than one might expect when working with a traditional provider. 

When working with the Rise team to set up group benefits, she found the team to be more interested in finding the right package for her & her employees, versus “selling” her on more expensive plans or flashy introductory pricing.

Unlocked cost savings

While the coverage offered in a turn-key package was promising, Nicole also found the pricing not just to be fair, but superior. For her, Rise Health offered good value and some of the best benefits coverage out there for their organization's size. On average, Rise Health clients usually unlock 10% cost savings by switching over for our platform. In Nicole’s case, she was able to introduce group health benefits to her employees, and came in 20% under budget, unlocking extra budget that could be spent on other important areas of her business.

While the initial cost savings opened up more budget right away, over time, the lack of additional paperwork and tedious admin tasks have saved Nicole and Animal Food Bank “infinite” amounts of employee hours. Having their HR processes consolidated onto one system has made taking care of her team quick and easy. Running payroll, HR, and benefits administration as a team of one can be a daunting process without the right support, Nicole notes that “I didn’t have to hire a HR person thanks to Rise and their all-in-one platform”.

“While I had budgeted for benefits based on my previous experience, Rise actually came in 20% under budget and the coverage is great.”

Sustainable pricing with no surprises

By cutting out the middleman, Nicole found that the coverage in the Rise Health packages were more than what she had experienced with traditional providers. During her initial conversations, the Rise team was able to provide Animal Food Bank with sustainable pricing that wouldn’t leave her with future unhappy surprises. From her own previous experience, traditional carriers have a tendency to increase prices after the first year. But with Rise Health, there was a little extra work upfront to ensure that dilemma could be avoided as much as possible.  And as a result, the price of Rise Health works for her limited budget— and in her case— has remained stable as they head into their second year of coverage.

World-class support & stress-free implementation

While Nicole was sold on the cost savings and the ease of setting up our comprehensive packages, it was Rises’ support that won her over. The implementation of Rise Health proved to be a game-changer for Animal Food Bank. Nicole describes the transition as "OMG SO EASY" thanks to a user-friendly interface that helped her tremendously during setup. The seamless self-enrollment process and the immediate positive response from employees helped Nicole feel like she had a payroll & benefits team working right alongside her.  

Today, she relies on the world-class support team at Rise to help cover areas where she might not have the time or resources to be the expert. Because our support team are trained on the Rise platform and are certified benefits experts, support is available for anything and everything related to Rise.

“It feels like Rise is a wing of our Animal Food Bank. It’s like you’re our internal benefits & payroll department. Anytime I have questions or make a mistake on Payroll, the Rise team is so patient and just helps me fix it.”

The verdict on Rise Health:

Nicole's experience with Rise Health allowed for a modern solution that saved a ton of time— and money. With easy implementation, and the helpfulness of Rise support from the very first time she spoke with our team, left a lasting impression. Rise has Nicole’s back when it comes to running HR, payroll and benefits in one place, so she can take off one of her many hats to focus on the cause that started it all.

As for how she feels about having employee benefits, payroll & HR on one system;

“It’s like.. my favorite thing ever.”

Rise Health can support companies of all sizes by bringing quality benefits to your employees and save you hours of time by running it all from one place. To learn more about switching to Rise Health or set up group benefits for the very first time, talk to our team for a personalized demo.

The post Beyond Benefits: Animal Food Bank’s innovative approach with Rise Health appeared first on Rise.

Across the landscape of Canadian HR, emphasis on employee wellness has never been more on the rise. In particular, companies with 3-100 employees (Small and Medium Enterprises, or SMEs) are looking for the best ways to support and retain their employees. 

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of providing the best possible wellness solutions for employees. It also showed how varied employee health and wellness needs can be, even for small businesses with few employees, making it more important to employees than ever: 54% of employees said they view their benefits as more valuable since COVID-19.

As these SMEs work to take care of their employers and provide competitive benefits for hiring and retaining staff, one question frequently comes up: "What exactly is a wellness spending account, and is it right for our business?" 

Let’s demystify Wellness Spending Accounts (WSAs) and explore why solutions such as Rise Health might be the right choice for businesses prioritizing cost efficiency, reducing admin tasks, and providing superior employee benefits.

What is a Wellness Spending Account?

A Wellness Spending Account (WSA) is a flexible, employer-funded benefit Canadian companies can offer their employees, designed to support personal wellness and health-related expenses. Unlike traditional health insurance plans, which often have predefined coverage limits and specific eligible expenses, WSAs provide employees with a set amount of funds to use at their discretion for a wide range of wellness activities. 

Wellness Spending Account coverage can include anything from fitness class fees and gym memberships to mental health services and nutritional counseling. The key aspect of a WSA is its adaptability, allowing employees to use the funds for wellness services that suit their individual needs and preferences. 

This customization empowers employees to take charge of their health and wellness and aligns with the evolving understanding of what constitutes personal well-being. By offering a WSA, employers can demonstrate their commitment to their employees' overall health, potentially enhancing job satisfaction and productivity. It also shows employees that their employer is committed to supporting their personal health and wellness needs, whatever those may be.

Wellness Spending Accounts have risen in popularity across Canada due to their versatility in supporting various wellness activities. Whether it’s fitness classes or mental health services, WSAs align with personal health objectives.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of WSAs

Advantages:

• Flexibility: WSAs allow employees to customize how they use their funds, catering to individual wellness needs.
• Employee Morale: HR professionals identify that implementing WSAs has been linked to enhanced job satisfaction and engagement.
• Customization for Employers: Companies can tailor these accounts to align with their specific company culture and financial capacity.

Disadvantages:

• Financial Commitment: Establishing WSAs represents a notable financial undertaking for the employer.
• Administrative Resources: These accounts demand dedicated administrative efforts for effective management if the administration process is not digital.
• Employee Misuse: https://www.cpacanada.ca/news/canada/2019-05-09-benefits-fraud-types (basically saying employees could submit fake receipts and hard to catch if managing WSA yourself)
• Clear Guidelines: It’s imperative to have well-defined rules to prevent misuse of the allocated funds.

Exploring Alternatives to Wellness Spending Accounts

Canadian businesses exploring employee wellness solutions have several options at their disposal:

• Traditional Health Insurance Plans offer extensive coverage (although with limited flexibility).
• Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are known for their tax advantages and suitability for employer and employee contributions.
• Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) provide comprehensive support for various personal and work-related issues.
• Rise Health: A digital platform offering cost-efficient and comprehensive employee benefits solutions, including WSAs.
• Direct subsidies for fitness and wellness activities.
• Onsite wellness amenities like gym facilities or yoga classes (not an option for small or work-from-home businesses)

Who Should Consider a Wellness Spending Account?

Wellness Spending Accounts can be a good fit for businesses that:

• View employee wellness as an integral aspect of their company culture.
• Seek to provide flexible, personalized benefits to their employees.
• Recognize the varied wellness preferences within their workforce.

Rise Health is a compelling alternative for businesses seeking more economically viable, digitally streamlined, and comprehensive benefit solutions.

Rise Health: A Competitive Digital Solution for Canadian Businesses

Rise Health stands out for Canadian businesses looking to enhance their employee benefits package, offering:

• Affordability for Canadian businesses: Rise Health plans are more budget-friendly compared to traditional carriers, with clients saving an average 10% on their monthly premiums. . Additionally, the integration of their Payroll + HR platform at no extra cost (a unique offering from Rise Health) amplifies the savings.
• Completely digital benefits experience: Rise Health's fully digital platform streamlines benefits administration, significantly reducing paperwork and tedious administrative tasks for employers. It also offers an all-in-one app for employees to access their Rise Health account and submit claims easily. The dual advantages for both employees and employers can make this the type of win-win solution businesses need.
• Modern benefits packages: Rise Health enables smaller companies to offer extensive benefits plans that might otherwise be out of reach from conventional providers and without the a hefty price tag. Being able to offer modern benefits that employees will find valuable can be an essential factor in attracting and retaining talent in Canada's competitive job market.

Embracing Modern Employee Benefits with Rise Health

Wellness Spending Accounts represent a contemporary and adaptable solution for employee benefits. However, for businesses that want to provide comprehensive coverage, Rise Health is ideal for Canadian businesses eyeing cost savings, digital ease, and modern packages. Feedback from our clients is consistently positive, and we look forward to meeting and exceeding their expectations.

Exploring Rise Health's offerings can provide deeper insights into how your business can improve or even start offering employee benefits package that help your business stand out. This can pave the way for a healthier, more satisfied workforce while also taking extra administrative work off your plate with fully digital HR processes and systems

The post What is a Wellness Spending Account? And, is it right for your business? appeared first on Rise.

As the year end approaches—bringing with it deadlines and end-of-quarter targets—your employees may feel that they’re not able to take any time off for the holidays. 

Getting employees to take time off is how you can ensure they’re able to continue doing their jobs effectively and not burn out. Of course, just reminding employees to take time off is usually not enough. There needs to be a concerted effort from leadership to make it clear that being busy and constantly working isn’t the expectation.  

Busyness (or the perception of busyness) is often seen as a badge of honour in business. We put in long hours, take few breaks, never go on vacation, and are commended for our hard work and dedication. In fact, according to Forbes, more than half of Americans leave portions of their paid time-off (PTO) unused. 

A people-based culture should actually put people first by encouraging them to take genuine time off, where they are able to truly disconnect from work. In a year that has already been extremely challenging, people may be feeling the pressure to work extra hard to make up for fewer clients or sales or less revenue for the company as a whole. However, now more than ever, it’s important to make sure that your employees are taking time off. 

Consistent busyness can lead to burnout, and employees need to be reminded (and shown) that it’s not only okay to take time off, but is essential to their well-being.

The Harvard Business Review discusses how when we’re continually busy, we often don’t have the ability to complete important tasks since we “run around putting out fires all day, racing to meetings, ploughing through emails, and getting to 5 or 6 PM with the sick realization that we haven’t even started our most important work of the day”.

Managers might often be the ones who start early and stay late—whether online working from home or in the office—and never take time off. Such behaviours can signal to direct reports that time off from work is a luxury that no one can afford. 

There are a number of measures you can take to ensure that employees feel just as motivated to use their PTO as they do to finish their work.

Forbes notes how vacation time should actually be viewed as an investment because “taking time off decreases stress and increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions. In fact, employees who take vacation time are more productive and higher performing than those who don’t”. 

One way to encourage employees to take time off is by clearly outlining the process in your vacation policies. Some companies have a “use it or lose it policy”, making it mandatory for employees to submit their vacation times by a certain date (usually the end of each year). 

You can also encourage employees to take impromptu days off, with management approval. If they've completed their projects and need the day off, it’s good for morale and future productivity to allow employees to take a personal day. This kind of flexibility can also help you retain your best employees and creates an attractive employer brand for potential job candidates.

Additionally, Business Insider notes that an important part of getting employees to take time off is in ensuring that there is no vacation shaming taking place in your company. They write “don't let anyone in the organization make anyone else feel guilty about taking time off. This starts at the top with leadership. The executive team needs to actively communicate this to department managers and let them know it won't be tolerated from them”.

Preparing for the holiday season means giving employees the resources they need to feel assured that they ‘won’t be missed’. 

To allow employees to truly disconnect during the holidays, you can provide them with a few resources. For one, give them a template for out-of-office emails which includes a designated contact, e.g. “If you have any questions, please contact my manager Susan”. Very few jobs will require an emergency after-hours contact, but you can delegate this decision to the employee’s manager. 

You can also encourage employees to disable push notifications for their email or messaging service on their phones. By pausing notifications temporarily, your employees won’t feel the “urge” to check messages and stay on top of communications while away. 

If you have a product or service that requires 24/7 support for clients, stagger work schedules to make sure that all of your employees are getting time off and that those who are working holiday hours are shown appreciation and compensated appropriately.

Leaders should also commit to taking time off and visibly communicating vacation time. Doing so will automatically empower the rest of the organization and send a clear message that you value your employees even when they’re not at work. 

There are plenty of ways to give back to your employees over the holidays, but giving them the gift of genuine time off is a gift that keeps on giving.

The post Happier holidays mean getting employees to take time off appeared first on Rise.

With many workplaces having adopted remote or hybrid work models, it’s more important than ever to support employees wherever they are—not just when they’re physically in the office. Especially considering that better benefits are one of the top reasons employees start a new job, according to LinkedIn—second, only after higher pay. In fact, research also finds that one in ten employees would be willing to leave their job for one that pays less but offers better benefits.

Supporting employees means looking beyond standardized benefits and exploring the company perks that will set your organization apart and truly benefit employees. 

As many companies shift to work from home, work from anywhere, and hybrid work models permanently, the next step may be introducing a modified work schedule: the four-day work week. 

A company that trialled the four-day work week found that productivity went up by 20% and “staff reported a vast increase in overall wellbeing as a result”. Additionally, work-life balance scores “shot up from 54% to 78% whilst stress levels dropped to 38% from 45%”.

Alternatively, you can consider a 6-hour workday that spans Monday to Friday. One team that tried out the 6-hour workday found that a shorter workday “forced the team to prioritize effectively, limit interruptions, and operate at a much more deliberate level for the first few hours of the day. The team maintained, and in some cases increased, its quantity and quality of work, with people reporting an improved mental state, and that they had more time for rest, family, friends, and other endeavours”. 

Having a wide variety of employee benefits and company perks available—such as pet insurance—is a great way to both attract and retain top talent. 

According to a survey, 45% of pet owners spend as much, or more, on their pet’s healthcare as their own, which can cost between $700 to $2000 per year for a healthy pet. And, having employer coverage is important to employees, with Forbes finding that "over 30% of 18–41-year-olds are most concerned with having pet insurance available as a benefit".

According to the Employee Benefit Adviser, only 15% of companies offer pet insurance, and companies who do offer it might gain an edge when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. Currently, 55% of all Canadians own a pet, with pet ownership on the rise.

Fertility benefits can help people who are struggling with either conception or the cost of conception.

Companies such as Spotify and eBay have pioneered the added benefit of fertility treatments, such as egg freezing and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Fertility benefits are a great way for businesses to show that they are family-centric and that they support their employees’ family life, not just work life. 

As the Canadian Psychological Association reports, regular physical activity can help reduce stress and prevent depression. 

Whether you offer a subsidy for gym/yoga/fitness studios, or have a gym in your building for use, it’s important to encourage healthy habits and help employees break up their day-to-day routine with exercise. 

Increased screen time means eye fatigue and an increase in vision issues.

Comprehensive eye care options allow employees to get regular check ups at their optometrist, pay for prescription glasses, and uncover health issues that are detectable through eye exams (such as glaucoma or diabetes).

Paid volunteer days can help incentivize your employees to help out at a charity or non-profit  of their choice. 

A report by the Conference Board of Canada on the value of volunteering found that “[c]haritable activities can improve the life satisfaction of volunteers and may improve their health” and that “volunteers gain a range of business-relevant skills and can improve their work-related outcomes”. Employees can go with coworkers (maintaining safe social distance, of course) or use it as an opportunity to pursue a passion or cause of their own. 

Never underestimate the power of free food and drinks.

While it's not necessarily "outside the box", free food and drinks can come a long way for both employee attraction and retention. Especially if you've returned to office, offering free food and drinks is a great perk and inventive for employees to come into the office.

Of course, company perks only go so far. If your company culture is flawed in other ways, these perks will do little to improve engagement and retention. But if you already have a positive company culture and employees that are engaged, offering these company perks is a great way to show that you're invested in their wellbeing and want them to stick around.

At the very least, your organization should offer comprehensive employee health benefits. If you want to learn more about Rise Health's benefits offerings, get a quote from us to learn more. 

The post Outside the box company perks to improve the employee experience appeared first on Rise.

Understanding all the terms and acronyms within the benefits space can feel like learning a new language, so we’ve put together a quick reference chart for you containing all the essential glossary of group benefits terminology and acronyms, in alphabetical order. You can also skip ahead with the alphabet below to the term you are looking for.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | W

A

Accidental Death Benefit

A benefit in a life insurance policy providing for the payment of an additional amount equal to the face amount of the policy in case of death by accident.

Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance (AD&D)

A form of health insurance that provides payment in the event of death or loss of one or more bodily members (such as hands or feet) or the sight of one or both eyes as a result of an accident.

Actively at Work or Active at Work

The employee is performing the normal duties of their occupation and working the number of hours set forth in the application.

Actuary

A person professionally trained in calculating the risks and costs of insurance.

Adjustable Policy

A type of insurance policy that allows the insurance company to make changes to the policy under certain conditions. Changes can include the amount of insurance, the premiums charged and the cash value.

Administrative Services Only (ASO) Plan

An arrangement under which an insurance carrier or an independent organization will, for a fee, administer a health benefit plan and settle claims but not guarantee payments because the plan is uninsured.

Advisor/Agent

A person licensed by a provincial or territorial regulator to sell life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, group insurance and annuities including segregated funds. Also called an agent or a broker.

Aggregate Stop Loss

Provides a ceiling on the dollar amount of eligible expenses that an employer would pay, in total, during a contract period.

Anniversary Date or Renewal Date Flexible Benefits Plan

The anniversary of your flexible benefits plan issue date or another date on which the plan renews.

Annual Plan Reviews

A yearly study of a company’s coverage and claims history. This is completed to ensure that the plan is functioning efficiently.

Annuitant

The person who receives payments from an annuity. It can also refer to the person on whose life the payments are based or the policyholder.

Annuity

A contract that pays out income at regular intervals, typically monthly, in exchange for an upfront payment. The income can start right away, or in the future. Annuities are often used to provide retirement income. When offered by an insurer, annuity contracts can be registered as RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, etc., as well as offered through group retirement and savings plans.

Application

A statement of information made by a person applying for insurance. It identifies the plan and the amount applied for, the life insured and the beneficiary, and provides other data useful in evaluating risk.

Assignment

In the context of health or dental claims, this is an arrangement for the employee to assign reimbursement payments to another. For example, a patient can assign payment to the dentist so that the dentist can bill the insurer directly and the patient does not have to pay the dentist upfront.

Association Group Plans

Insurance plans designed for members of a professional association or trade association. Members may be protected under a group policy or by individual franchise policies.

Automatic Premium Loan

A feature in a permanent life insurance policy that allows the insurance company to pay for overdue premiums by taking a loan against the policy (as long as it has a cash value). Paying for overdue premiums in this way prevents your policy from being cancelled (or lapsing).

B

Base Annual Salary

The gross annual compensation prior to before-tax payroll deductions, if any, which an insured earns from their occupation with the policyholder and which was used in the calculation and remittance of premiums.

Beneficiary

The person who is to receive the insurance proceeds at the death of the insured.

Broker

See Advisor.

C

Cash Surrender Value

The amount your insurance company pays you when you cancel a permanent life insurance policy that has built up a cash value. The insurance company deducts any policy loans or overdue premiums from the cash surrender value before paying you.

Cash Value

The cash amount that builds up in a permanent life insurance policy. You can take a loan against the cash value of your policy. If you cancel your policy, you get the cash value. Whole life, variable life and universal life are types of life insurance that have cash value.

Certificate of Insurance

A document that sets out the key features of the insurance under a group insurance plan. It lists things like the type and amount of coverage, categories of dependents, deductibles and coinsurance, limits and exclusions, and instructions for making a claim.

Claim

A demand to the insurer by the insured person for the payment of benefits under a policy.

Claimant

The person who makes a claim.

Coinsurance

A provision in a health insurance contract by which the insurer and insured share, in a specific ratio, the covered expenses under a policy. For example, the insurer may reimburse the insured for 80 percent of covered expenses, the insured paying the remaining 20 percent of such expenses.

Contingent Beneficiary

If you choose to name more than one person to receive a benefit, you can name some to be primary and others to be secondary (also called contingent). Primary beneficiaries are first in line to receive benefits. Secondary beneficiaries receive a benefit if the primary beneficiary for that specific share has already died when the benefit becomes payable.

Contract

An insurance contract is the legal agreement with your insurance company that sets out the terms of your coverage. The contract usually includes your application, the policy, and any changes made later to the policy.

Conversion Right

A right that a policyholder has to exchange their policy for another one, without giving proof of good health. A common example is term insurance that can be exchanged for a permanent insurance policy. Another example is a group insurance plan where an employee plan member who leaves the plan can convert their group insurance to an individual insurance policy.

Coordination of Benefits

Families with two working adults may be covered by more than one health or dental plan. If your primary plan doesn't pay the full amount of an expense, you can submit a claim to the other plan for the balance. In this way, you can receive up to 100% of your expense.

Covered Expenses (also called eligible expenses)

Specified hospital, medical and miscellaneous health care expenses that will be considered in the calculation of benefits due under a health insurance policy.

CPP

A living benefit product that provides a lump-sum cash payment on the first diagnosis of one of several contractually specified critical illnesses or events.

Creditor’s Group Insurance

A type of insurance that helps to pay down or pay off your loan or credit card or cover your payments in certain situations, such as if you die or become disabled. It can be offered through financial institutions, auto dealers, mortgage brokers, retailers, or credit card companies when you take on debt.

Creditor Protection

If you have unpaid debts, the people you owe the money to (your creditors) may legally have access to your assets such as property, investments, or valuables to pay off the debt. This may happen through your bankruptcy or other legal proceedings.

Critical Illness Insurance

A type of insurance that pays you a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a life-altering illness such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease. The exact illnesses covered are listed in your policy. You can buy this type of insurance on its own or may be able to add it to a life insurance policy or group plan.

D

Declaration

A statement, signed by the insured, warranting that the information given by them is true.

Deductible

The amount of covered expenses that must be incurred and paid by the insured before benefits become payable by the insurer.

Deferred Annuity

A contract that pays out income at regular intervals, starting at a future date (e.g. a certain number of years or at a specific age).

Defined Benefit Pension Plan

A workplace pension plan that pays you a set benefit amount when you retire. Benefits are based on a formula that takes into account things like your salary, how long you were a member of the plan, and how much you and your employer contributed to the pension plan.

Deferred Contribution Pension Plan

A workplace pension plan where the amount you contribute is fixed but the benefit amount you receive on retirement is not. Your benefits are based on the amount you and your employer have contributed, plus investment earnings.

Dental Insurance

A type of insurance that provides coverage for dental expenses. It's usually provided as part of a group plan, but you can also buy it on its own.

Dependent Life Insurance

Life insurance for an employee’s spouse or children.

Disability

A physical or mental condition that makes an insured person incapable of performing one or more duties of their occupation.

Disability Benefit

A benefit added to some life insurance policies providing for waiver of premium and sometimes payment of a monthly income if the insured becomes totally and permanently disabled.

Disability Income Insurance

A form of health insurance that provides periodic payments when the insured is unable to work as a result of illness or injury.

Dispensing Fee

The dispensing fee represents the charge for the professional services provided by a pharmacist when dispensing a prescription.

E

Eligibility Period

The length of time you must be a member of a group before qualifying for coverage under the group plan. For example, an organization whose health and dental plan has a 90-day eligibility period would require 90 days of qualified employment before coverage could begin.

Elimination Period

The waiting period an employee must be disabled before disability benefits become payable.

Emergency

An acute, unexpected, or unforeseen illness or accidental injury which results in a sickness or accidental bodily injury of the insured.

Employee Assistance Plan (EAP), Employee and Family Assistance Plan (EFAP)

A benefit that provides confidential counselling or resources to employees and their family members.

Endowment Insurance

A type of life insurance that pays you a set amount if you live to the maturity date of your policy. If you die before that date, your insurance company pays the set amount to your beneficiary.

Evidence of Insurability, or evidence of good health

A medical questionnaire an employee must complete to disclose medical history.

Exclusions

Things that are not covered by an insurance policy. They can include certain medical conditions you had before you applied for the insurance or high-risk activities such as skydiving. You can sometimes buy extra insurance to pay for risks that wouldn't otherwise be covered.

Exempt Policy

A life insurance policy where the savings growth doesn't exceed limits set under income tax law. In an exempt policy, the savings growth isn't subject to annual taxation.

Experience-Rated Benefits

Benefits such as health, dental, and vision. Premiums increase with use.

Extended Health Insurance (EHC)

A form of health insurance that provides, in one policy, protection for hospital and medical expenses not covered by government programs and usually other health care expenses, such as prescription drugs, medical appliances, ambulance, private duty nursing, etc.. The policy may contain a deductible amount, coinsurance, and high maximum benefits. Also called extended health benefits (EHB).

Extended Term Insurance

An option in a permanent life insurance policy that allows you to extend the period you're covered without having to pay additional premiums. It uses the cash value in your policy but your insurance coverage stays the same. How long the policy continues depends on how much cash value is available.

F

Face Amount

Also called the "sum insured", the face amount is the amount stated in your policy that your insurance company guarantees to pay when the insured person dies. It doesn't include amounts payable under accidental death coverage or other special provisions.

Financial Needs Analysis

When you buy insurance, an advisor may help you decide how much insurance you need by completing a financial needs analysis. This looks at your current financial and personal situation and goals to help decide how much insurance you need. It can include things like taking care of dependents and paying off loans.

Flexible Premium Policy or Annuity

A type of life insurance policy or annuity contract where you can vary the amount of your premium payments and when you make them. For example, you can pay premiums for six months and then stop paying them for the next six months. There may be minimums and maximums that apply to your payments.

Fraternal Benefit Society

A not-for-profit organization that operates for fraternal, benevolent, or religious purposes, including providing insurance to its members and their families.

G

Grace Period

A period in which an insurance policy is effective even though the premium is past due.

Group Annuity

A workplace savings plan that provides a regular income, typically at retirement. Pension plans and group registered retirement savings plans often use group annuities to fund the plan.

Group Benefits, Group Insurance

A benefit plan developed for an employer that could include coverage for life, disability, extended medical and prescription drugs, dental, and critical illness.

Group Policyholder

An organization (for example an employer or association) that enters into a group insurance contract with an insurance company.

Guaranteed Death Benefit

The minimum amount an insurance company pays to the beneficiary when the insured person dies.

Guaranteed Insurability Benefit

An option in a life insurance policy. It gives you the right to buy additional insurance coverage at set future ages without having to give proof of good health. It's also called "Guaranteed Insurability Option" (GIO).

Guaranteed Maturity Benefit

The amount that your insurance company guarantees to pay you on the policy maturity date. This benefit is most common with segregated fund contracts.

Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit

An option within a segregated fund contract that guarantees to pay you a stated income as long as you live, or for a specified period, even if the market value of the contract drops. If the market value grows, then the income paid to you can increase.

Guaranteed Renewable Policies

A feature of an individual insurance policy where the insurance company guarantees to renew the insurance at the end of a certain period, regardless of any changes in your health. Premiums may increase at renewal times.

H

Health Spending Account (HSA)

A benefit that covers an employee’s health care expenses. Claims are made against this account to pay for health and dental expenses that are not covered under the terms of the regular benefit plan.

Health Insurance

A type of insurance that covers medical expenses (such as prescription drugs, dental expenses, vision expenses, and paramedical expenses) or loss of income if you're sick or injured. 

Hospital Expense Insurance

A feature of extended health care insurance that covers hospital expenses not covered by your provincial health plan during your stay in the hospital. It can include the cost of private or semi-private hospital rooms and other prescribed hospital services.

Hospital Indemnity

A health insurance benefit that pays a flat amount for each day a covered person is in the hospital. The number of days covered is set and the daily amount paid doesn't vary, regardless of the medical expenses the covered person incurs. Also called "hospital cash plans".

I

Illustration

A document you may get from your advisor when you are thinking about buying insurance. It explains how the policy would work and shows the costs and values of the policy under different conditions. It also should clearly show what's guaranteed and what's not. A policy illustration is for your information only and isn't part of a legal contract.

Immediate Annuity

An annuity product you buy with a single lump-sum payment and that starts paying a guaranteed amount almost immediately.

Impaired Annuity

Someone who has a serious medical condition may qualify for an impaired life annuity. This means they may receive a higher payment amount because their life expectancy is shorter than that of a healthy person.

Impaired Rise

In life and health insurance, a person is known as an impaired risk if they either have physical/health problems or a risky occupation/hobby. A person who presents an impaired risk may not qualify for coverage. If they do qualify, they may pay higher premiums for their coverage. For example, someone with a history of strokes would be an impaired risk.

Individual Insurance

Insurance purchased on an individual basis, covering only one person or, in some cases, family members as well.

Individual Variable Insurance Contract

An annuity contract where your premiums are invested in segregated funds managed by the life insurance company. The value of the plan will vary over time, based on the value of those investments. You are guaranteed to receive at least 75% of what you've paid into the plan on death or maturity, even if the investments have dropped in value.

Insurer

The party to the insurance contract who promises to pay losses or benefits. Also, any corporation licensed to furnish insurance to the public.

Income Protection

A type of benefits plan that looks after injured or sick employees by continuing to pay a portion of their regular income while they are unable to work.

Insurance Underwriter

A business that sells insurance, known more commonly as an insurance company.

K

Key Person Insurance

A type of insurance on the life of a key employee in a business. If the key employee dies, this insurance is designed to provide cash to hire and train a replacement and replace lost revenues and profits. 

L

Lapsed Policy

An insurance policy that has ended because you stopped paying premiums and there was not enough money in the policy (cash value) to keep the payments up to date.

Level Premium Life Insurance

A type of life insurance where the premium you pay stays the same through the life of the policy.

License

The official certification a provincial or territorial regulator gives an individual to show the individual is authorized to sell insurance.

Life Insurance

Insurance providing for the payment of benefits upon the death, whether by accident or otherwise, of the life insured.

Life Income Fund (LIF)

A type of retirement plan containing funds transferred from a pension plan. If you leave a pension plan, you may transfer the value of your pension to a LIF. At retirement, income payments from a LIF are subject to upper and lower limits each year, based on the amount in the account and the pension laws that apply to the LIF.

Life Income Option

An option available to beneficiaries to receive their life insurance payout. With this option, the insurance company pays the beneficiary regular and equal payments for as long as they live.

Locked-in

A restriction applied to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan or Registered Retirement Income Fund if amounts are transferred to that plan from a pension plan. It prevents withdrawals from the plan so that the plan can be expected to provide a retirement income.

Locked-in Retirement Account

A type of Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) containing funds transferred from a pension plan and where the money is locked-in.

Locked-In Retirement Income Fund

A type of retirement plan similar to a Life Income Fund. LRIFs are governed by pension laws and aren't available in all provinces.

Long Term Care Insurance

A type of insurance that provides financial support for people who become unable to care for themselves because of a debilitating, severe, or chronic illness.

Long Term Disability (LTD)

A benefit plan that provides income replacement to an employee who has become totally disabled due to illness or injury.


M

Management Expenses Ratio (MER)

The MER is a measure of how much it costs to operate and manage a fund. For a segregated fund, the MER often includes the basic guarantee cost. The MER is expressed as a percentage of the fund's value.

Market Survey/Marketing

A review of a company’s current benefits package in comparison to benefits offered in the insurance marketplace.

Material Facts

Information or a fact you're aware of that could affect an insurance company's decision about whether to insure you and at what cost. For example, if you're being checked for a medical condition when you're applying for insurance, you must tell the insurance company. If you don't, the company could cancel your policy and refuse to pay any claims.

Maturity Date

The date on which the insurance company pays a maturity benefit and the policy ends. For an endowment policy or annuity contract, including segregated fund contracts, the maturity date is a predetermined age or date.

Medical Information Bureau

A non-profit association of Canadian life and health insurance companies established to provide for the confidential sharing of information among its members. Member insurance companies use MIB's services to help assess an individual's risk and eligibility during the underwriting of life, health, disability income, critical illness, and long-term care insurance policies. Reports from MIB may alert insurance companies to applicants who have provided incomplete or false information, helping to prevent insurance fraud.

Medical Services Plan (MSP)

The provincial health plan for British Columbia.

Misrepresentation

A false or misleading statement an applicant makes when applying for insurance. An insurance company can cancel the policy if they find someone gave them false or misleading information in the application.

Misstatement of Age

This happens when an insurance company is given the wrong age for the person insured. In some situations, the insurance company can cancel the coverage when the wrong age is given. However, in many cases, they adjust the coverage or premiums to take the correct age into account.

Mutual Insurance Company

An insurance company owned by its policyholders (called participating policyholders). A mutual insurance company has no shareholders. Management is directed by an elected board.

N

Non-Contributory Pension Plan

A pension plan where the employee makes no contributions. The employer funds the entire cost of the plan.

Non-Forfeiture Options

A feature of some permanent life insurance policies that provides the policyholder with choices if they stop paying premiums on a policy.

Non-Participating Insurance

A policy that does not participate in the insurance company's distribution of earnings or dividends.

O

Optional Life Insurance

Additional life insurance that may be offered by the employer.

P

Paid-up Insurance

Life insurance on which all the required premiums have been paid and coverage continues.

Partial Disability Benefit

A disability benefit that pays a monthly amount that's less than a total disability benefit. In this situation, the insured person can't work full time or is prevented from performing one or more important daily duties of their occupation, but isn't considered totally disabled under the policy.

Pension Plan

A savings plan intended to provide you with a monthly income in retirement. It can include a workplace plan, government plan, or your own individual plan. For workplace plans, depending on the specific plan, you and your employer may contribute to it.

Permanent Life Insurance

A type of life insurance that provides coverage for the lifetime of the person insured provided the required premiums are paid. Permanent life insurance usually has a cash value. Whole Life, Term to 100, and Universal Life are examples of this type of insurance.

Plan Administration

The daily management and implementation of a benefits plan. This might include handling claims, adjusting coverage, adding and removing employees, or any number of other procedures.

Plan Sponsor

The employer, association, or union which holds the group insurance contract.

Policy or Contract

The legal document issued by the insurer to the policyholder that outlines the conditions and terms of the insurance.

Policyholder

The person who owns an insurance policy. Also called the "insured".

Policyholder Dividend

If you have a participating insurance policy, a policyholder dividend is a payment your insurance company makes to you when the company performs well. Dividends are not guaranteed—they depend on things like the total amount of claims the company pays, how the company's investments perform and its level of expenses.

Policy Loan

A loan made by a life insurance company to a policyholder based on the policy's cash value. A policy loan reduces the cash value and the insurance company usually charges interest.

Policy Reserves

The pool of funds that an insurance company keeps specifically to meet its policy obligations. The law requires insurance companies to keep sufficient reserves to pay all future claims.

Pooled Registered Pension Plan

A defined contribution pension plan designed for smaller workplaces and the self-employed. The funds in your account are pooled with other employers' funds in the plan to achieve lower investment management and administrative costs. The plans are run by licensed organizations such as insurance companies. In Quebec, this type of plan is called a Voluntary Retirement Savings Plan (VRSP).

Predetermination of Benefits

A claim procedure required by many group plans before you incur large expenses. For example, if you need major dental work, your plan may require you to obtain and submit an estimate of the costs so your insurer can determine what portion of the costs your plan will cover (called a predetermination of benefits) before you receive treatment. You can then budget for the expense knowing how much your plan will pay and how much you'll have to pay. You may be able to cover some of your costs under your spouse's/partner's plan.

Pre-existing Condition

A medical condition for which you've had symptoms, consulted a medical professional, or received treatment before you apply for insurance or before your coverage takes effect.

Premium

The payment, or one of the periodic payments, a policyholder is required to make for an insurance policy.

Premium Offset

A payment arrangement where the insurance company uses policy dividends or cash value to pay your premiums.

Provincial Health Insurance Plan

Canada's health care program is made up of provincial and territorial health insurance plans, all of which share certain common features and standards and are designed to ensure all residents of Canada have reasonable access to health care from doctors and hospitals.

R

Rated Policy

An insurance policy where the insured person does not meet the company's standard insurance requirements (for example, because of a risky occupation). The policy has higher risks and higher premiums.

Reduced Paid-up Insurance

A form of paid-up life insurance available as a nonforfeiture option. The policy continues, but for a reduced amount.

Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)

A type of savings plan for your child's or grandchild's post-secondary education. No tax deduction is provided for contributions. Payouts from the plan to the student, for qualified education programs, are not taxed.

Registered Pension Plan (RPP)

Pension plans are subject to regulation by the Canada Revenue Agency, and such plans are called "registered pension plans".

Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF)

A type of payout plan that provides a minimum—but not guaranteed—retirement income. Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) can be moved into RRIFs, or annuities, at or before their maturity date.

Registered Retirement Savings Plan

A type of retirement savings plan. The amount you can contribute to an RRSP is based on your income and is set by the federal government. The amount you contribute reduces the income tax you pay at the time, but you typically pay tax on any money you withdraw from the account.

Reinstating a Policy

You may apply to restart your insurance coverage if it ended because you did not pay your premiums. This process is called reinstating your policy. To do so, you must apply within two years of the date the required premiums were not paid. You must also provide evidence of insurability and pay any outstanding costs, plus interest.

Reinsurance

An agreement between insurance companies to share insurance risk. One company transfers some of its insurance risk to another company, known as the reinsurer. Reinsurance is one way your insurance company manages the risks it takes on.

Renewable Term Insurance

A type of term life insurance that can be renewed at the end of the term, either automatically or at the policyholder's option, without evidence of insurability. The amount you pay for the insurance (the premium) is usually fixed and guaranteed not to change for the length of the term. When the insurance renews, the premium increases based on your age.

Replacement

The act of replacing an existing insurance policy with another policy. Since this means that the first policy is cancelled, the insurance company usually requires a written statement showing you understand the seriousness of making this change.

Rescission Right

The policyholder's right to cancel a policy within a set period of time and get a refund of any premiums paid. This "free look" period allows you to review the policy and ensure it meets your needs.

Revocable Beneficiary

A type of beneficiary designation. You can change a revocable beneficiary at any time.

Rider

A change or addition to an insurance policy that either expands or limits the coverage and benefits.

Risk

The likelihood that an insured event will happen while the policy is in place. For example, in life and health insurance, risk is typically the likelihood that the person insured will die, be injured, or get sick.

S

Segregated Fund

A pool of investments held by the life insurance company and managed separately (i.e. segregated) from its other investments. If you buy a variable insurance contract, sometimes called a segregated fund policy, the value of your policy varies according to the market value of the assets in the segregated funds. Segregated funds may also be part of a group savings plan.

Settlement Options

The choices a beneficiary or policyholder may have for receiving payment of life insurance benefits, other than an immediate cash payment. For example, the beneficiary may choose to receive the benefit in the form of an annuity.

Short-term disability (STD)

A benefit plan that pays an employee an income while they are unable to work due to non-work related illness or injury.

Specific Plan

A benefits plan that only addresses one area of coverage. A dental plan is an example of a specific plan.

Standard or Statutory Provisions

The provisions in an insurance policy setting out certain rights and obligations that you and the insurance company have. These are required by provincial insurance laws.

Suicide Clause

A provision in a life insurance policy stating that benefits will not be paid if the person insured commits suicide or dies as a result of self-inflicted injuries.

Surrendered Policy

A policy you've asked your insurance company to cancel. If your policy has a cash value, you receive this amount when you cancel your policy.

T

Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)

A registered account you use to save money for any purpose. You don't get a tax deduction when you contribute to the plan. Investment earnings in the account are tax-free and you don't pay taxes when you withdraw money.

Taxable Benefits

Employer-provided non-cash compensation that is subject to income tax.

Term Life Insurance

A type of life insurance that provides coverage for a set period of time. The period (or term) of the coverage can be either a fixed number of years (e.g., 10 years) or to a set age (e.g., age 65). The policy has no cash value.

Term to 100

A type of permanent life insurance that provides coverage for your lifetime, as long as you pay the required premiums. The premium amount stays the same and you stop paying premiums after age 100. The policy has little or no cash value.

Third Party Administrator

A company other than an insurance company who manages businesses’ benefit plans.

Travel Insurance

Insurance designed to pay for certain unexpected costs that may arise when you are travelling, such as emergency hospital/medical costs, trip cancellation, lost baggage, and accidental death.

U

Underwriting

The process by which an insurer determines whether it will accept an application for insurance.

Universal Life

A type of permanent life insurance with flexible premium payments. It consists of two parts: life insurance and an investment account. You pay money into the investment account. The insurer takes premiums and other expenses from the account. Any investment growth accumulates in the account. You can increase or decrease your premiums and your death benefit within certain limitations. Investment growth may not be guaranteed depending on the type of investment chosen.

W

Weekly Indemnity (WI)

See Short Term Disability.

Waiver of Premium

A feature of some insurance policies that allows you to stop paying the premiums if you become disabled.

Whole Life Insurance

A type of permanent life insurance that provides coverage for your lifetime. It has fixed premiums, builds up a cash value, and has features that help keep your coverage in place if you can't pay the premiums.

The post The essential glossary of group benefits terminology appeared first on Rise.

There are different considerations for companies that currently offer benefits and those that don’t. Switching employee benefits providers can often be time-consuming, which is why many organizations will choose to endure a less-than-ideal experience rather than go through the process of selecting a new provider. Choosing a benefits provider when you’ve never offered health benefits to employees can be a complicated process and lead to choice paralysis. 

Things to consider for organizations that don’t currently offer health benefits

There are several different options to consider when you’re choosing a new employee benefits provider without pre-existing coverage. Among many options, you can work with an insurance company, an independent agent, a professional employer organization, or use a benefits administration platform such as Rise Health. 

Working with an insurance company often means working with what’s known as a captive agent: an insurance agent who is employed by that specific insurer. So if you’re working with someone from SunLife, for example, they will only be able to provide you coverage from SunLife. 

Alternatively, you can work with an independent agent who works with multiple insurers and will be able to provide you with choices. The disadvantage of working with an independent agent is that they often work on commission and are therefore incentivized to sell certain packages from specific insurers. 

The third alternative is to work with a broker, who you pay to work for you and get you the best deal possible. The downside to working with a broker is that they’re not likely to receive preferential treatment from insurers, as insurers generally prefer to work with their own agents. 

Organizations that prefer a hands-off approach to employee management may choose to use a professional employer organization or PEO. A PEO acts “as your entire HR department for a fee, handling needs like compliance, recruiting, payroll, onboarding, time and attendance, and benefits administration”. PEOs best suit organizations with 100 employees or fewer, as beyond that the cost may be too high to justify for most organizations. 

Benefits administration platforms are a great option for both organizations with and without benefits.

A more modern option, benefits administration platforms generally partner with insurers to bring employers a number of different options. Additionally, many benefits administration platforms are also HR softwares, which can save time and money with an all-in-one experience. 

Software review site Capterra recommends a benefits administration platform as the best benefits choice for the majority of organizations. They write: “Benefits administration software is the best solution to provide and administer employee benefits in-house if you have the staff to handle it, and are willing to do the due diligence to research and find a user-friendly system.”

Why switching employee benefits can be complicated

Many employers are reluctant to even consider changing their benefits provider, whether for a fear of the unknown or just a lack of resources. Here are some of the reasons that switching providers can be complicated. 

• Switching can take a lot of time. End-to-end, choosing a new employee benefits provider is potentially time-consuming. From researching different options to exploring and deciding on coverage, and then the actual switchover and onboarding process, to training administrators and updating employees… the process can be lengthy but ultimately worth the effort.
• Coverage plans may not always line up. Although there are some commonalities between most benefits carriers, it can sometimes be challenging to find a provider that matches up exactly with your current coverage. 
• Getting everyone on board isn’t always easy. From executives to administrators and employees, you need to make sure that everyone is onboard for a switch in providers. Because of time constraints and concerns about coverage lapsing or changing, this isn’t always the case. 
• Concerns about disruptions or changes to coverage. Employees may have concerns that changing providers will impact their coverage, whether that means that they’re worried about there being a pause in coverage while your organization transitions or that certain things that they need will no longer be covered under the new plan. 

Of course, when it comes to saving money and providing better benefits for your employees, these concerns are generally worth the risk. Especially considering that research shows that “77% of Canadian employees are ready to change jobs” for better benefits, with 60% of survey respondents willing to leave for better benefits, even if the pay is less.

There are some universal considerations for both organizations with and without benefits when choosing a new employee benefits provider. 

Here are some of the things that all organizations should ask themselves and potential benefits providers:

• What is the cost per employee? Is there an implementation or onboarding fee? How do premiums work?
• What is included and can we change our plan based on usage?
• How is compliance handled?
• What does support look like? What is the onboarding/implementation process?
• What data will be available to us?
• What does the service agreement include?

Rise Health is Rise’s group benefits platform, where we offer an all-in-one benefits experience. Additionally, you can get our entire platform for free, forever, when signing up for Rise Health. If you’re interested in learning more about how Rise Health can support your organization’s wellness, book a demo with us today.

The post A quick primer on choosing a new employee benefits provider appeared first on Rise.

There are a number of reasons why your team members might not want to take time away from the office. Fear of missing out on a promotion, fear of falling behind at work, or simply wanting to save vacation days for another time are all common reasons that may be discouraging employees to take time off. The ongoing pandemic and hybrid work options has made it so employees struggle more with work-life balance and are more likely to opt for a working vacation. In addition, restrictions on travel may have some employees feeling like there's no point in booking time off if they can't hit certain destinations. Research shows that in 2020, 92% of employees "cancelled, postponed, or didn't book a vacation due to the pandemic".

Still, ensuring team members take a vacation⁠—⁠whether they actually go anywhere or not—can bring a wealth of benefits for their health and productivity, and for the success of your organization as well. There are a number of ways to do this, such as allowing employees to split vacation time into shorter periods, helping encourage those who feel anxious about going away for a long time. Providing incentives to take vacation days can help create a company culture where taking time off isn’t frowned upon.

Whatever you decide, simply having a well thought out vacation policy can go a long way toward making it more likely that your employees will take a vacation and are more likely to bring their best selves to work.

Vacations can ensure that team members are more relaxed, productive, and satisfied in their role.

Let’s start with the most obvious point: Vacations help you recharge. While some team members might fall victim to today's hustle culture, where there's pressure to work harder, longer hours, without breaks or time off, that isn’t realistic.

Vacations are extremely important for helping your employees learn to relax. Because stress is cumulative—with recent research indicating that it can take as long as five years to fully recover from burnout—if your team doesn't take time to rest and recharge, it will impact their ability to do their jobs.

Taking time-off will only help your employees become more productive in the long run. Research shows that despite the rhetoric about taking time off, vacations can actually increase productivity by as much as 80% .

Furthermore, taking time off can help companies retain talent and keep turnover costs down. SHRM found that 78 percent of human resources directors indicated that team members who took more vacation days reported higher job satisfaction.

Your teams will become stronger together

Some team members worry that taking time off could hurt their chances of getting a promotion or raise. However, as GoGirl Finance notes, a USTA study found no evidence that avoiding vacation improves one’s chances for a bonus or a raise. Furthermore, GoGirl also points out that taking some time away from work might just help others see how important each team member's contributions are. Relying on others and taking the time to plan how duties will be covered during your employee's absence also strengthens team-building and builds bonds between coworkers.

Vacations are good for your people's health

Beyond simply helping you to recharge and feel less stressed, studies suggest that taking a vacation is also key to one's overall health and wellness. The USTA Study noted found that men who don’t take vacations are more likely to suffer from heart disease, while women who don’t take time off are more likely to suffer from depression. As a bonus, staying healthy means your people will take fewer sick days, saving money and resources for your company.

Not taking vacation days is costly for employees

Employees that do not take the time to relax can cost them in more ways than one. If your organization has implemented a ‘use it or lose it’ policy when it comes to vacation days, your people could be missing out on more than just the relaxation benefits. According to Project Time Off, employees in the US alone are letting go of $52.4 billion in combined group health benefits every year. Yikes!

...And it can cost your company, too

For companies that allow team members to rollover vacation time, unused paid time off can leave a big liability on company balance sheets. Project Time Off notes that US companies recorded roughly $224 billion in unused vacation time, with roughly $65.6 billion in unused paid vacation days being carried over over the course of a year. That’s a liability on the books. 

Vacation days stimulate employee innovation

Time off can stimulate creativity beyond just helping team members maintain their productivity and improve their performance. Taking time away from the office can help get creative juices flowing and may even help your people come up with your next big idea.

While it might be difficult for both employers and team members to step away from the office, having a clear vacation policy that encourages team members to take vacation days is beneficial for both their health and for the health of your business.

There are plenty of great examples of companies that have thrived from encouraging the use of vacation days. HubSpot allows unlimited time off but has also mandated a minimum of two weeks vacation per year. TED completely shuts its offices down for two weeks during the summer to ensure that even workaholics step away from their work for a little while.

Whatever vacation policy you choose, be sure that it fits your company's goals and culture, and that your policy communicates to team members that taking vacation days is a good thing. After all, life is short and it’s important to take the time to enjoy it!

The post Why your team members should use their vacation days appeared first on Rise.

Media company theSkimm recently encouraged companies to #ShowUsYourLeave, asking organizations to publicly share the amount and types of paid time off they offer employees. While theSkimm’s callout focuses on paid family leave, many organizations have chimed in with the different types of paid time off that they offer. 

Along with theSkimm, companies including  Pinterest, Estee Lauder, and Etsy all jumped on the opportunity to share how they prioritize their people, from fertility and adoption support to bereavement leave for pet loss.

Offering a wide variety of types of paid time off ensures that you’re supporting your employees at every stage of their life. 

A comprehensive total benefits package is crucial to employee recruitment and retention. Many employees actually rate benefits as more important than salary, with a Glassdoor survey finding that 79% of employees “prefer new or additional benefits to a pay increase”. Research has also shown that benefits can improve employees’ overall experience with your organization, with 61% of employees surveyed saying that “benefits boosted their job satisfaction”. 

Different types of paid family leave will support employees whether they are trying to start a family, dealing with a loss, caring for someone—and everything in between. 

Here are some of the different types of paid time off and other benefit offerings that organizations shared as a part of theSkimm’s #ShowUsYourLeave campaign: 

• Parental leave that goes beyond the minimum requirements and supports all types of families. Many organizations offer extended parental leave for parents and guardians, whether they’re biological, adoptive, or foster parents. 
• Bereavement leave for pregnancy loss. There are many stories of employees having to use up their sick days after a pregnancy loss, which is a traumatic loss both emotionally and physically. Some organizations now offer their employees bereavement leave specifically for pregnancy loss. 
• Including animals as family. Some organizations offer bereavement leave after the loss of a pet or offer days off for bonding with a new pet. Additionally, some employers also include pet insurance as a part of their benefits package. 
• Flexible scheduling. Offering employees the option to create their own schedules around their other obligations is on many employees’ must-haves list.   
• Unlimited paid time off. Many organizations are beginning to offer their employees unlimited PTO rather than specifying which types of paid time off an employee can and cannot take. 

Employees’ needs haven’t changed; what’s changed is that companies are now acknowledging these needs—and being prepared as an organization to offer your employees what they need to do their best work will increase loyalty and employee satisfaction.

The post Increasing employee engagement by offering different types of paid time off appeared first on Rise.

A group benefit plan quote is affected by a myriad of factors, from the demographics of your workforce to the current interest rate in Canada and, of course, which benefits you choose to include in your plan. 

There are two main categories of group benefits: pooled and experience-rated. 

• Pooled benefits: Includes long-term disability, life insurance, and accidental death and dismemberment. Pooled benefits are influenced by the group your advisors work with, rather than by your individual company.
• Experience-rated benefits: Includes health care, dental care, vision, and short-term disability and the costs of these benefits are influenced by your individual company’s usage.

As far as pooled group benefit plans, as a Benefits Consultant article states, “Under a fully pooled underwriting arrangement, the insurance carrier does not review the claims experience of any one particular group, however, focuses on analyzing the experience for their entire block of business to determine required premium rates and rate adjustments annually”.

Think of pooled benefits like a grade bell curve—your premiums are determined not by your usage or demographics as an individual company, but by the larger group you're part of. 

Here are some of the factors that may influence the cost of pooled group benefits: 

Demographics of your carrier’s pool

This includes an aggregate average of data, such as age, gender, geographic location, and occupation. For example, if there’s little employee turnover in your carrier’s pool and much of the staff remains the same, this would result in a +1 for the age demographics (meaning everyone is a year older).

That could lead to a 5-10% increase in rates. However, employee turnover makes this calculation more complicated. The average occupational demographics also influence pooled group benefit plans cost and premiums. If the majority of your carrier’s pool work in high-risk industries, your life insurance and long-term disability premiums are likely to increase more than if the majority worked in safer, low-risk industries and occupations.

Current interest rate in Canada

Although the impact of the interest rate on benefits premiums tends to be relatively small, it is still worth noting. In general, a low interest rate means higher premiums.

Here are some perks of pooled benefits, according to Inc. 

1. A community premium rate tends to be lower than individual rates. 
2. In many cases, premium increases are capped for the first several years of the policy.
3. Centralized administration of the policy results in savings in work hours and paperwork.
4. Standard rates and benefits do not fluctuate according to company size or workforce health history.

Unlike pooled benefits, the cost of experience-rated benefits are determined solely by your company’s individual data. The overall demographic data of your provider’s pool makes no difference.

Similarly to pooled benefits, with experience-rated benefits health and dental costs are determined by employee demographics. However, costs are also influenced by your organization’s claim history as well as inflation trends. The factors determining the premiums of experience-rated benefits can seem more complicated than pooled benefits, as there are so many of them. 

Here are some of the factors that influence the cost of experience-rated benefits:

Type of billing

Does your plan use traditional billing, refund accounting, or administrative services only (ASO)? ASO plans tend to be the lowest cost, but are also the highest risk. It’s important to understand which type of billing is right for you. Learn more about ASO here.

Turnover of employees and company growth

Because the cost of experience-rated benefits is influenced by plan usage, high turnover can increase your fees. Therefore, a company that is in rapid-growth or has to replace employees is likely to have higher premiums at each renewal.

Demographics

Similar to pooled benefits, experience-rated group benefit plans cost can be influenced by factors such as age, gender and personal life choices. For example, if the average age of your employees is under 30, you’re less likely to see as many dependents (spouses or children) than with an older workforce.

Lifestyle/health of workforce

Are your employees leading healthy lifestyles on average? If so, it could be saving you thousands of dollars per year in group benefits premiums. Healthy employees tend to require fewer medical treatments, meaning that your premium rates won’t increase.

Location

Generally speaking, if your company operates in a high cost-of-living area, then your premiums will be higher than if you live in a low cost-of-living area. Check out this list of most expensive cities in the world to see where yours ranks. We’ll spoil it for you: Vancouver and Toronto top the list. 

Plan design

This one may seem obvious, but the design of your plan can have a huge effect on your premiums, and it’s one of the few factors you can actually control. Changing the copay or deductible rates can reduce claims and premiums.

Service Industry Code (SIC)

The industry you work in has a Service Industry code and that code can determine the cost of your experience-rated benefits. For example, if your SIC shows that your industry is in technology or computer science, you’re likely going to have a cheaper rate than groups in industries like logging, mining, or forestry, which tend to be higher risk.

Rise People is the only solution in Canada that offers comprehensive health plans together with a platform that simplifies the administration and management of group benefits. 

Give your employees the modern benefits they want, and a paperless experience they’ll love. Attract and retain talent with comprehensive group benefits that include a convenient online pharmacy, virtual care, and more. Learn more.

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Offering your employees an open vacation policy can benefit both them and your organization. Indeed writes that “productivity doesn’t just come from hard work but from a balance of work and time off from work”. 

Many leaders worry that employees will take advantage of an open vacation policy, taking months off, but the benefits outweigh the risks. Research shows that unlimited paid time off can contribute to “low attrition and high engagement” with some companies even boasting increased productivity and record company growth, among many other benefits. 

An open vacation policy can reduce administrative burden and save money. 

Your HR administrator will no longer have to track time off policies if you have a “use it as needed” vacation policy. This will save them time and energy—all you need is a system to track requests. 

And  if vacation is unlimited, your organization won’t need to pay out any unused vacation time at year-end or when an employee leaves. 

An open vacation policy is good for recruitment and retention.

Unlimited time off is an attractive quality for potential employees. According to one study, Canadians work up to “three extra days to make up for taking one-week vacation [and] nearly half would switch jobs for more vacation time”.

Allowing employees to take time off as they need and want to, without capping the limit, is a great way to show your employees you care about their wellbeing at and outside of work. 

The concern that employees may take advantage of an open vacation policy is not unwarranted, but it may be misguided.

While there might always be a few people in any organization who push the boundaries of acceptable use of your unlimited days off, most people won’t. In fact, a study actually found that 28% of Canadians take less than half of their allotted vacation time.

However, if your employees do seem to be taking a significant amount of time off under your unlimited policy, it may be an issue of job burnout or dissatisfaction. Evaluate how you can better manage the day-to-day for your employees so that they are less inclined to need extended time off. 

Here are some ways that you can ensure employees fully understand your unlimited vacation policy:

• Create a clear policy and have employees sign off on it. Include a framework for acceptable request timeframes, if there are any blackout dates, or if you have any limitations about how many days within a specific time period a person can take off, and what exceptions there may be. Be as specific as possible to avoid any misunderstandings. 
• Encourage open communication. Encourage employees to talk to their managers about any upcoming plans, to help work out what makes the most sense for their role and department. 
• Encourage and remind employees to take time off. Whether it’s a random Friday off or a week to rest and recharge, employees might need a little push to take time off and not feel like their unlimited time off policy is in reality a no time off ever policy.
• Lead by example. Leaders should take time off too and avoid answering emails or Slack chats during vacation.

An open vacation policy is a recruitment and retention strategy that’s gaining popularity in many industries, as early adopters continue to work hard to implement compelling benefits for employees. Ultimately, both organizations and employees can benefit from offering unlimited time off. 

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