{"id":17840,"date":"2019-12-17T08:30:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T13:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/benefits\/health-benefits\/four-ways-to-start-the-benefits-year-off-on-a-good-foot-140109"},"modified":"2019-12-17T08:30:03","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T13:30:03","slug":"four-ways-to-start-the-benefits-year-off-on-a-good-foot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2019\/12\/17\/four-ways-to-start-the-benefits-year-off-on-a-good-foot\/","title":{"rendered":"Four ways to start the benefits year off on a good foot"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"alignleft clearfix\">\n<div class=\"wp-caption feature-image alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"316\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/NewYearResolutions_HealthWellness_123RF.png\" class=\"attachment-feature size-feature wp-post-image\" alt=\"Copyright: ratmaner_123RF\" title=\"Four ways to start the benefits year off on a good foot\"> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/experts\/kim-siddall\">Kim Siddall<\/a> &nbsp;|&nbsp;December 17, 2019<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;beginning of a new year is a great time for employers to reflect on their benefits plans and take steps to get in&nbsp;ahead&nbsp;of potential challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Here are four&nbsp;ways to set the benefits year off on a good foot:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Review the company\u2019s benefits philosophy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every organization should have a philosophy&nbsp;that drives the design and structure of the plan, as well as decision-making about direction and business exceptions.&nbsp;Employers should review the benefits philosophy periodically to ensure its tenets are still relevant to the organization as it changes and evolves over time, and that the plan still&nbsp;matches that philosophy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/benefits\/health-benefits\/using-benefits-design-to-drive-employee-engagement-104044\">Using benefits plan design to drive employee engagement<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Questions to ask include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Does the program align with&nbsp;the organization\u2019s intentions in terms of what and who is covered?<\/li>\n<li>Is the philosophy addressing organizational challenges, such as rising disability costs due to mental-health issues, high turnover or low employee engagement?<\/li>\n<li>What are the projections for growth or reductions in the workforce for the coming year? Does the benefits philosophy still make sense&nbsp;in this context?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A high-level review of why an organization has a benefits program in the first place, and what it\u2019s trying to accomplish, can be a helpful exercise, instructing activity and direction for the coming year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Take stock of wellness.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If wellness is an area of focus, take inventory of the elements already in place. This can be especially helpful if parts of the wellness offering&nbsp;are based in different areas of the organization.<\/p>\n<p>While benefits like fitness classes, an onsite gym or an employee assistance&nbsp;program are visible, employers should be considering other offerings as wellness. These include a retirement program that offers financial planning to members, a physical space&nbsp;with areas for meditation or prayer, a safe place to lock up and store bikes, volunteering opportunities and a donation-matching program.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/benefits\/health-wellness\/wellness-tips-for-motivating-apathetic-employees-122521\">Wellness tips for motivating apathetic employees<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These all fall into the wellness category \u2014 and employers should consider this when adding new benefits and assessing the success of current programs.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally,&nbsp;employers should take a&nbsp;deep dive into data to see what disease states are driving their benefits plan costs. The higher prevalence of specific chronic diseases can create an opportunity for a greater impact.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Look ahead for key dates<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As strategic planning conversations&nbsp;take place&nbsp;internally and with advisors, employers can plan ahead and plot out key milestones.&nbsp;Questions to ask include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is it a re-enrolment year for a flexible benefits plan?<\/li>\n<li>When does the payroll team&nbsp;require contributions and rates?<\/li>\n<li>How will benefits plan management dovetail with other company initiatives?<\/li>\n<li>Will there be blackout periods or times when teams will be focused on other priorities?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Taking a look down the road at the start of the year can keep a company organized and on track when&nbsp;internal teams get busy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Take on a few administrative chores.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employers should be putting their benefits plan through a&nbsp;few regular administrative clean-up tasks, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask&nbsp;employees to update their enrolment forms by confirming their dependants and beneficiaries;<\/li>\n<li>Check plan members\u2019 dates of birth against any termination ages for benefits under the plan and make sure payments for&nbsp;any terminated or reduced benefits aren\u2019t going through;<\/li>\n<li>Ensure the booklets posted or handed out to employees are the most current version;<\/li>\n<li>If the&nbsp;plan includes benefits that have been collectively bargained, ensure the contract terms and coverages are aligned with provisions set out in that agreement; and<\/li>\n<li>If the organization applies for an employment insurance premium reduction, check that the disability plan design meets the eligibility requirements, including EI benefit maximums for the new year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Read:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/news\/age-discrimination-in-benefits-plans-unconstitutional-finds-human-rights-tribunal-115168\">Age discrimination in benefits plans unconstitutional, tribunal finds<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Alongside strategic planning, taking on&nbsp;activities like these ones early on in the new year, can set&nbsp;an employer and benefits plan&nbsp;up for success, allowing organizations to&nbsp;be more proactive when it comes to decision-making.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/benefits\/health-benefits\/four-ways-to-start-the-benefits-year-off-on-a-good-foot-140109\">Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kim Siddall &nbsp;|&nbsp;December 17, 2019 The&nbsp;beginning of a new year is a great time for employers to reflect on their benefits plans and take steps to get in&nbsp;ahead&nbsp;of potential challenges. Here are four&nbsp;ways to&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}