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UPFRONT
PROVIDING EMPLOYEE
BENEFITS CONTINUES TO
BE A SIGNIFICANT COST FOR
EMPLOYERS
Despite cost containment efforts in recent
years, employer spending on benefits
programs for employees represents a significant
cost. A new benchmarking survey
conducted by The Conference Board of
Canada shows that the average cost of providing
benefits for employees is $8,330 per
full-time equivalent.
“With the prevalence of chronic disease
and incidence of mental health issues increasing,
the costs of benefits have never
been higher,” said Nicole Stewart, senior research
associate, Leadership and Human
Resources Research for The Conference
Board of Canada. “Employer-sponsored
benefits are valued by employees, but in
order to control costs, organizations are going
to need to make tough decisions about
where to best allocate funds.”
For employers, providing benefits while
containing costs is a constant priority.
More than half of organizations (52 per
cent) reported increases in benefits costs
for active employees, averaging 6.2 per
cent between 2013 and 2014. To manage
these costs, some employers are looking
to generic substitutions for prescription
medicines or exclude certain drugs from
coverage. Others seek to increase the employee
share of premiums. However, these
solutions only address part of the cost pressures
facing employers. Organizations are
increasingly turning to programs aimed at
physical and mental health promotion and
early assessment and intervention to help
reduce the cost of claims.
Other trends revealed in the 2015 survey
include:
■■ More than 90 per cent of employers
provide full-time employees vision care
coverage; private or semi-private hospital
accommodation; out-of-country medical
coverage; paramedical services like
massage therapy, chiropractic coverage
and physiotherapy; major restorative
dental services; accidental death and
dismemberment; and long-term
disability.
■■ The survey also found that nearly all
organizations provide benefits for
permanent part-time employees who
work a minimum number of hours per
week (on average 20 hours or more).
■■ Most organizations don’t have a set
annual maximum for prescription drug
coverage, but on average, reimbursement
is limited to 89 per cent of the claim.
Annual maximums are typically in place
for dental work.
CANADIAN WOMEN STILL
HELD BACK AS LEADERS IN THE
WORKPLACE
Randstad Canada’s fourth annual Women
Shaping Business study – conducted in
partnership with Ipsos Reid – has found
that despite efforts to achieve equality in
the workplace, nearly three-quarters (71
per cent) of working Canadian women are
in roles below the management level, and
cite the number one barrier to leadership at
work is an employer’s fear of absence due
to family obligations. The study also discovered
that only five per cent of working
Canadian women are employed in science,
technology, engineering or math (STEM)
fields, presenting a major inequality in these
key areas for Canada’s future workforce and
economy.
“Change is hard, but it’s critical for businesses
that want to grow and flourish,”
said Faith Tull, senior vice president of human
resources at Randstad Canada. “Our
research shows that organizations that promote
and support women perform better in
an array of areas, including financially, but
we’re still seeing a large gap between men
and women in leadership positions, particularly
in those important STEM fields.”
Other concerning findings from the 2015
Women Shaping Business study include:
■■ More than three-quarters of working
Canadian women believe there is
a divide compared to men in the
workplace when it comes to salaries,
influence in making important decisions,
promotions and getting the best jobs,
tasks or projects.
■■ Forty-two per cent of working Canadian
women believe they don’t obtain
leadership positions because their
employer fears a possible maternity
leave.
■■ Twenty-seven per cent of working
Canadian women who are not in a
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Continued on page 13
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ FEBRUARY 2016 ❚ 11