B.C. employees put high value on benefits

While more than one-half of 500 employees surveyed in British Columbia said they value their workplace benefits program, many didn’t know very much about the services provided in their own plans, according to a report from consulting firm TRG Benefits and Pensions.

Respondents were asked to rate the importance of their employer’s benefits plans on a scale of one to seven and the average rating was 6.21 — with women (6.31) valuing their plans slightly more than men (6.06).

Employees rated medical, dental and pension coverage as their top three priorities, said Craig Hewson, Vancouver-based vice-president of TRG, which conducted the Benefits and Pensions and What They Mean to British Columbians survey earlier this year.

“That’s not too much of a surprise,” he said. “Demographics have a lot to do with it. The majority of workers are over 40 and as they get older, health care and dental care become more important.”

Although their priorities are clear, the average employee has very little awareness about the other elements provided through their benefits plan, said Hewson.

Thirty per cent of those surveyed said they were unsure whether critical illness was included in their plan, even though 70 per cent listed it as an important feature to them. Nearly one-quarter of respondents said they did not know who the contact person was for their benefits plan if they wanted to make changes to their plan.

“The only way out of this is effective communication,” said Hewson. “It’s important (for organizations) to find the tools and strategy that would fit well for them. The employer that communicates very well is going to have an edge over the employer that doesn’t communicate.”

Once companies establish effective communication with employees about benefits, it is important to work with them to tailor a plan for their individual needs, he said.

The key to an employee-approved and affordable plan is to mirror what is provided by other companies in the industry, he said.

“What we’ve found is that what employers need to provide is what is appropriate to their industry,” he said. “If a company is providing more than what’s available in the industry, it may be spending too much.”