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Employment Insurance is changing.  We are still waiting on confirmation of the Disability payment going from a 17-week payout to a 26 week payout.  In the meantime, Canada Life has confirmed that EI is increasing the benefit as per below: Effective Jan. 1, 2023: The maximum insurable earnings is increasing from $60,300 to $61,500. The…

How do we Stop Late Entrants? I really need your help. This year we have spent more time on Late Entrant's than ever before. That one-time exception. We are getting several of these requests daily. Which means we are running out of favours with the Insurance Companies. What is a Late Entrant? When you sign…

Insurance Companies can add a lot of illnesses onto their Critical Illness plans, but do they bring value?  Would it be better to have all-inclusive definitions or earlier payouts? An example, HIV for people working in the medical industry. Did you know that there has only been one case of infection back in 1999?  Does…

I don't know about you but I am so done with the words... "We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes, we thank you for your patience."  After that my bank informed me the wait time is 45 minutes.  Since I really needed this item I waited. A service I purchased was not what I…

One thing we can count on is change.  Here we go again... Changes made over the past couple years that Employers are paying for: MSP Premiums for Employees; Extremely complicated Sick Days for Employees; and Now the Government wants to extend Employment Insurance Sickness Benefit from 17 weeks to 26 weeks. Sun Life has advised…

I am finding with the Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) the biggest problem comes in managing the expectations of the time it takes to receive assistance.  When an employee calls the 1-800 number they ask the question, "Is this an Emergency?".  My perception of an emergency is, are you in a suicidal state.  So most people…

In a world where the news is normally negative, I would like to tell you a story of a young student who needed a Village. As most of you probably know, I run 2 companies, and yes, it keeps me busy. I tend to enjoy being busy. The other week a School District contacted me…

Please ensure you read this and encourage your employees to download their new benefit cards.  If they don't and they travel out of country the provider will be incorrect. This will mean in a time of crisis they will be trying to figure out why they don't have coverage. I understand also that you can…

  I don't shop often, but the other day I went to a major box store and I was shocked by the way people were talking to each other.  Couples absolutely berating each other in public, with language I wouldn't of used with my spouse in private, let alone in the middle of a busy…