WHAT IS THE EI PREMIUM REDUCTION PROGRAM?

The Employment Insurance (EI) Premium Reduction Program is a government incentive that allows employers to pay EI premiums at a reduced rate if their employees are covered by group Short-Term Disability insurance.  The Program intends to reduce the EI premiums of both the employer and the employees (though, for administrative reasons, legislation reduces only the employer’s premiums).  Consequently, the Program requires that the employer return a portion of the savings to all the employees for whom the reduced rate applies.  Some of the more popular means of doing this include providing employees with a cash rebate (taxable income), paying for new or enhanced employee benefits, or hosting a staff party – each of which typically has a direct and positive impact on employee morale.  Only written mutual agreements that identify how the employees will benefit from the reduction will be accepted.

Your company qualifies for the EI premium reduction if it:

• Provides at least 15 weeks of benefits for Short Term Disability
• Matches or exceeds the level of benefits provided under EI
• Pays benefits to employees within eight days of illness or injury (the elimination period cannot exceed 7 consecutive days)
• Is accessible to employees within three months of hiring
• Covers employees on a 24-hour-a-day basis

Debra L. Wiegers, GBA, CLU, Ch.F.C.
Managing Principal, Benefits Division  

Plan administration is an important job! An eligible employee who is not insured correctly or who has not been offered benefits can not only have a negative impact on the employee’s well-being but it can also pose liability issues for you and the business.

What types of plan administration tasks do you need to remember?

Most such tasks apply to all employees so they should become an automatic part of your group benefits plan administration. Some of the most important tasks include the following:

• It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that each employee is enrolled properly and on time. If an employee is enrolled late on the plan (typically 31 days after becoming eligible to join), his or her coverage is typically not guaranteed. The employee and his or her dependents will be considered late applicants, and will need to complete and submit forms about their health. They will then need to be medically approved before enrolling on the plan, at which point they will likely learn that their coverage is restricted or has been declined entirely. This not only has the potential to negatively impact the employee’s and/or dependents’ well-being but it also poses a significant liability risk to the employer. It is far better and easier for everyone for an employer to enroll an eligible employee properly and within the required timeframe.

• In almost all cases, it is to the employer’s and employees’ benefit to make participation in the benefits plan mandatory. If an employee was permitted to join a plan only when he or she anticipates needing a claim paid, this would make the plan financially non-viable; both non-claimers and claimers need to be contributing premiums into a plan to build up funds to cover claims (similar to home and other forms of insurance). This is why Wiegers Financial & Benefits recommends that employers make participation in their benefits plan mandatory for all eligible employees. If, though, you wish and are able to permit employees to waive all benefits coverage under your plan, it is important that you have those employees sign a group benefits plan waiver form that makes clear that you offered coverage to these employees but that they chose to decline it.

• Almost all group benefit plans permit an employee to waive Health and/or Dental coverage if he or she has comparable coverage through another plan (typically a spouse’s plan). The employee must be enrolled for all other applicable benefits on the plan as Life, Disability and other benefits are not offered to dependents.

• Changes to an employee’s coverage must be submitted to your group insurance carrier no later than 31 days after the event. Have your employees communicate regularly with you about changes that need to be made such as:
• Marriage, divorce, new baby, legal guardianship of child (requires proof)
• Overage dependents, enrollment in a secondary school with the required amount of classes
  Note: Dependents over age of 18 working more than 20 hours per week are not considered eligible for coverage under a parent and should be removed from the benefits plan

• If you have employees who are eligible to apply for additional Life and/or Disability coverage above what is automatically provided through your benefits plan, it is your responsibility to advise them of the option to apply. To apply, the employee must complete a health questionnaire provided by the carrier. If he or she chooses not to apply, Wiegers Financial & Benefits recommends that the employee sign a waiver confirming that he or she is aware of the option to apply for additional coverage but has decided against it.

Amanda Getzlaf,
Benefits Account Manager, Wiegers Financial and Insurance Planning Services Ltd.

When employees think about their benefits plan, the benefits that most often come to mind are for prescription drugs, massages, and maybe a dental check-up every year. However, I’m confident that if you were to ask any Benefits Advisor or Consultant, he or she would swiftly tell you that benefit plans are so much more than that! These benefits are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what a plan can provide for employees and their families.

Many people – employees and employers alike – are surprised by just how extensive an employee benefits plan can be. They’re often also surprised by how much a plan can do for an employee’s physical, mental, and financial well-being. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that our well-being is something we can no longer take for granted. And having an employee benefits plan is one of the best ways to stay protected.

There are two cornerstones of a benefit plan that deserve a lot more attention than they typically receive: Life Insurance and financial protection in the event of a disability or illness, namely, Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance. These benefits are often included in benefit plans but are not touted enough for the critically important protection they provide.

Benefits Canada reported recently that many people between the ages of 30-50 have no Life Insurance outside of what is provided through their employee benefits plan. On the one hand, this makes for a hefty responsibility for employers. But on the other hand, employers who provide their employees with a strong Life Insurance benefit have a competitive advantage that helps them attract and retain top talent.

As for Disability Insurance, Wiegers Financial & Benefits is passionate about including it in every benefits plan. The reality is that many employees work paycheck to paycheck, and in the event of a severe or prolonged illness or injury, most don’t have enough money saved to be able to weather the storm financially. Disability Insurance is very often a financial lifeline that enables employees to focus their time and energy on getting better instead of stressing about how they’re going to pay their bills. And it’s apparent that the pandemic’s impact on mental health and disability is not going to lessen any time soon. This Benefits Canada article speaks to how the majority of Canadian employers are prioritizing mental well-being, and Disability Insurance benefits are a key part of what they’re doing about it.

If you’re like a lot of Canadians who believe that employee benefit plans are most important for getting their prescription drugs paid for or their massages covered, I encourage you to delve into the details of your plan. You’ll likely be surprised by what you learn, and you’ll be in a better position to know what you can be, or should consider, doing outside of your plan to protect your well-being. Your personal financial advisor will be a great asset to you in advising you on a good path to take and then actually putting these wheels into motion. But always remember that your benefits plan is likely doing more for you than you realize so be sure to provide your advisor with all of the details. Your benefits plan is there to help take care of you; let it do all that it can!

Jewelian Berry,
Benefits Account Manager, Wiegers Financial and Insurance Planning Services Ltd.

It seems like just yesterday that we first started hearing about the COVID 19-virus, and now it’s been almost a year of uncertainty with only a blurry horizon in the future. What that horizon will look like, or when we will reach it, is still unknown but the hope is that we get there soon… and that we can hold our loved ones tight again!

As we all know, life can change in an instant, leaving our best-laid plans torn to pieces. However, it is critically important to pick up the pieces and find the new course we are to take so that despite the interruption, we can get to where we want to be. As a Certified Financial Planner with Wiegers Financial & Benefits for almost seven years, I have experienced with every client some kind of change in their lives and ultimately their financial goals. Given that life is not stagnant, it’s critically important that your plan and goals change with it to keep up.

What kind of life changes can impact your financial plan? Any number of things can change your goals but some of the most common changes are those concerning:

• Job and pension
• Income
• Marital status
• Dependents (children or elderly parents)
• Real assets (e.g. primary residence or rental properties)
• Other investments
• Insurance policies

As a Canadian farmer, you’ve lived through your fair share of unpredictability. Whether it was the farm crisis or one too many years of lackluster harvests, you took your farm through the worst combinations Mother Nature and the markets could throw at you, beating the odds to build something your family is truly proud of.

Looking back at the ups and downs of farming, you’d never take any of it back. And you want to leave the challenge behind for the next generation so that your family’s legacy can continue to flourish long after you’re gone. Successful farmers are constantly thinking about what’s next. If you’re over 50, planning the future of your farm should be your top task. The work you put in now could set your farm’s estate up for one of the most anticipated outcomes in your entire farming career. You know how rare that can be in the agriculture industry!

Speaking of your career, you’ve worn many hats over the years: accountant, labourer, veterinarian, weatherman, mechanic, scientist – the list goes on. Through the demands of your job, you’ve learned to ask for help when you need it. So if you’re willing to call your neighbour down the road at harvest, you should be willing to work with the expert up the street on financials.

A financial advisor provides leadership when you need it. They have your best interests in mind while navigating the blind spots of your farm’s estate, connecting a knowledgeable team of specialists to determine how to plan your family farm’s future best. The most common regrets farm estate financial advisors hear from farmers are that they wish they would have talked about it either ten years earlier before they lost their health or before inflation led to a big misstep in their tax strategy.

You may be thinking about farm estate planning because you’ve been pressed by your child who’s made sacrifices for the farm, or you’ve witnessed what happens when farmers leave a mess behind. Don’t wait until things fall apart. If you have a lot of unanswered questions about your farm’s estate, proper planning will bring clarity to problems that exist and provide answers that may solve them. Bring in your biggest concerns and prepare to give your financial advisor honest answers to the following questions.

These are the top six considerations when you're farm estate planning:

1. How do I want to spend the rest of my life?