8. A HOSTILE UNION ENVIRONMENT CAN
EXACERBATE CLAIMS
In our own short-term disability department, we have noticed that
unionized workplaces experience an average of five times more
claims than non-unionized environments.
Recommendation: As you would do with a non-unionized
environment, you can require a certain minimum level of evi-dence,
speak to the adjudicator and ask if they see any trends,
and see if there is any room to add additional surveillance to
the workplace, in order to determine unsafe practices that can
be corrected.
9. EMPLOYEES WANT TO DELAY AN
IMMINENT TERMINATION
Our adjudicators have noticed that whenever our administration
team receives a list of employees going on layoffs (for the purpose
of extending benefits), the STD claims start trickling in.
Recommendation: If you are about to announce a layoff, proac-tively
announce that you are aware of this being a time when many
workplace culture
sick claims are submitted, and that while you do care about the
health of every employee, your priority is to ensure that the sick
leave budget is to be preserved for colleagues who truly need it –
tell them that if sick leave is abused, and the company has to cut
the benefit as a result, it will be the people with real illnesses who
will suffer the most.
CONCLUSION
You don’t have to feel helpless if you are faced with a pile of sick
leave claims. Examine your workplace, show genuine concern for
employees’ health and have a discussion with your adjudicator. If
there are motivated individuals, all of the proactive actions in the
world may not deter them from making an inauthentic claim, es-pecially
if a past precedent has been set. However, it’s never too
late to change your process – to ensure that those who need the
benefit most can continue to have access. n
Yafa Sakkejha is the GM of The Beneplan Co-operative, a member-owned
buying group for employee benefits.
Pressmaster/Shutterstock
HOLD YEARLY TRAINING
SEMINARS, COMPLETE WITH
DUMMY FORMS, OF WHAT TO
DO IF ONE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES
GETS SICK. EDUCATE THEM ON
THE HARD COSTS OF A CLAIM,
AND CONSIDER DEDUCTING
IT FROM THEIR BUDGET.
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2014 ❚ 45