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January 2016 Bulletin

News from The Benefit Specialists Corp.

From: The Benefit Specialists Corp. <sean.murray@beneco.ca>
Subject: News from The Benefit Specialists Corp.
Preheader:
Reply: sean.murray@beneco.ca

Dear sean,

 

We hope you enjoy the January 2016 edition of our bulletin.  Please feel free to contact us if you ever have any questions or concerns, we are here to help!


 The Benefit Specialists Corp. Newsletter

 


    

                                                                       January 2016

In This Issue
 
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The Benefit Specialists Corp. is more than willing to answer any questions you or anyone you know may have had.  If you know someone who has questions regarding the insurance industry or anyone who wants to join our mailing list please contact me, or forward this email to them and get them to click the join our mailing list button below. 

Thanks!

BeneCo  

A Health Spending Account (HSA)  is an innovative way

 to complement your group benefit plan. HSAs provide the

 ultimate blend of flexibility and cost containment, while enabling

 your employees to pay for medical and dental expenses not

 otherwise covered by your plan-with non-taxable dollars. Offering

an HSA to your employees not only helps maintain a healthy,

 productive workforce, but gives you an edge for attracting

 and retaining high-calibre employees.


 

 For .62 cents a day, your employees can prepare their wills, obtain unlimited phone consultations, 3 letters or phone calls per quarter, 5 (10) page documents reviewed, emergency access if arrested or detained and preferred member discount for complex issues.


Join Our List

Participation on your Group Benefit Plan

TBSC

 

 

Mandatory Contracts and Non Mandatory/Mandatory Contracts require 100% Participation of all eligible employees who are actively at work and satisfying the hourly requirements outlined in the booklet. Non Mandatory requires either 75% or 85% of all eligible employees. The plan administrator in this case is responsible for ensuring that 75% or 85% of all eligible employees are on the plan at all times.

 

This also means that when an employee is hired, and the participation is either 75% or 85%, and they choose to refuse benefits, they refuse all benefits. The employee cannot pick and choose what benefits they want. It is all or nothing.


 

The employee can waive health and dental if they have a spouse who is covered under a plan through their employer, he/she would then take the Pooled Benefits (Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Dependent Life (if common-law or married) Disability, Critical Illness (if employer has taken this option). In fact if the member waives the health and dental, it is mandatory that they take all other benefits.


 

Even though your contract may state non mandatory, meaning it is only required for 75% or 85% of all eligible employees working 20 hours a week, it is important to explain to the employee why they should be on the plan.


 

Example - You have an employee who you have just recently hired and your policy has a three month waiting period to enroll the employee. This employee is adamant that they do not want coverage at all. In this situation you can have this person fill out a refusal of all benefits form, with dates and signatures of both parties involved for the personnel file.  They have now agreed that they do not want to be part of the plan.  If down the road, the member then states they want to be a part of the plan, they then fill out a detailed medical form. This is called the late applicant process.  If single they answer medical questions about them, if married or common-law they answer medical question about themselves, their spouse and any dependent children. Once they send this in to the medical underwriting department, a couple of things might happen.  


 

1) the employee gets approved, but because they are a late applicant they are subject to basic dental of $250 for one full year from the date of approval, but are put on the plan for all other benefits.  


 

2) the employee gets declined all together - this means they are not approved for any benefits for themselves or family members when they need the plan the most.  


 

The bottom line is that so many employees indicate that they do not need the benefit plan because they feel healthy and that nothing serious will happen to them. What they need to understand is that the vast majority of people who have become sick or disabled have felt healthy at one point or another in their life.

 

 

 

Absenteeism Trends in Canadian Organizations

Sunlife Financial

 

 

Absenteeism Rates by Province


 Saskatchewan had the highest absenteeism rate averaging

11 days absent per employee, followed closely

by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, all at

10.8 days per employee. Alberta had the lowest level

of absenteeism, with an average of 7.9 days per

employee.3 (See Chart 2.) Alberta and Ontario have

the lowest union density rates in Canada, which contributes

to their lower absenteeism rates.

 

Research suggests that the more positive the work

environment and employee-employer relationship,

the less likely employees are to miss work.

 

Absenteeism Rates by Employee Characteristics

 

As workers age, they tend to miss more days of work.

This is influenced by illness and disability, not personal/

family reasons. Those aged 20 to 24 missed on

average 5.9 days, compared with 10.3 days for those

aged 45 to 54 and 13.2 days for those aged 55 to 64.21

(See Chart 3.) The incidence of physical chronic disease

increases with age, which contributes to increased

illness and disability among this group.

 

Cost of Absenteeism

 

Few organizations track the direct costs of absenteeism.

In 2012, only 15 per cent of organizations tracked this

type of data-unchanged from 2009. (See Chart 5.)

The direct cost of absenteeism is the salary cost associated

with the number of workdays lost. For 2011-12,

organizations estimated that the direct cost of absenteeism

averaged 2.4 per cent of gross annual payroll-

down slightly from 2.6 per cent in 2009.

 

 

 

Canadian Identity Theft Statistics

TBSC



 

The crime is identity theft - and thieves perpetrate their crime in a variety of ways, including dumpster diving, internet phishing, or simply by having your residential mail delivery temporarily redirected. More than ever, the information explosion, aided by an era of easy credit, has led to the expansion of this crime, which feeds on the inability of consumers to control who has access to sensitive information and how it is safeguarded. Identity theft remains the #1 concern among consumers - their fears are not unfounded. The facts on identity theft speak for themselves.


* Victims now spend an average of 600 hours recovering from this crime, often over a period of years. Three years ago the average was 175 hours of time, representing an increase of about over 240%!


 

* Based on 600 hours times the indicated victim wages, this equals nearly $16,000 in lost potential or realized income.


 

* While victims are finding out about the crime more quickly, it is taking far longer than ever before to clear their records and recover from the situation.


 

* Even after the thief stops using the information, victims struggle with the impact of identity theft. That might include increased insurance or credit card fees, inability to find a job, higher interest rates and battling collection agencies and issuers who refuse to clear records despite substantiating evidence of the crime. This "tale" may continue for more than 10 years after the crime was first discovered.


 

* Today victims spend an average of $2,000.00 in out-of-pocket expenses, an increase of 85% from years past.

 

 

 

The information contained in this bulletin is for general information purposes only. The articles published in this bulletin have been collected by The Benefit Specialists Corp. (TBSC) and we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained.  Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.  In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits out of, or in connection with, the use of the information contained in this bulletin.  Through this bulletin you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TBSC.  We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Sean Murray
The Benefit Specialists Corp.
sean.murray@beneco.ca
(403) 547-5236

The Benefit Specialists Corp., 339 Tuscany Estates Rise NW, Calgary, Alberta T3L 0C6 Canada
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