A new year typically brings a renewed focus on health and wellness both at the personal level, via goals or resolutions, and at the corporate level through benefits and wellness programming. Here are five fitness and health trends to watch for 2019. 1. Faster, focused workouts The No. 1 excuse for not working out continues to be lack […]
While Canada’s unemployment rate is just six per cent, according to Statistics Canada, it doesn’t mean workforces are immune to layoffs. Employment in certain industries, such as information, culture and recreation, continually declined between August and November 2018, noted Statistics Canada. Indeed, compared to 12 months earlier, employment in those industries was down three per cent nationally. When […]
A large majority (89 per cent) of employers cited a better control of health-care spending as the top reason for having workplace medical clinics, according to a new survey by Mercer and the National Association of Worksite Health Centers. The survey, which queried 121 U.S. employers offering onsite or near-site medical clinics, found 84 per cent of […]
Thousands of Google employees around the world briefly walked off the job Thursday to protest what they said was the technology giant’s mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations against executives. From Toronto and Tokyo to London and San Francisco, highly paid engineers and other workers staged walkouts of around an hour, reflecting rising #MeToo-era frustration among women over frat-house […]
Taking a varied and thorough approach to employee health helped Niagara Casinos take home the award for best health and wellness program for an employer with more than 1,000 employees at Benefits Canada‘s 2018 Workplace Benefits Awards in Toronto on Oct. 11. The variety of wellness offerings and activities included kickboxing, paddle boarding, bath bomb workshops, an onsite […]
Promoting health and wellness as a business priority and effectively communicating this to the workforce was the Town of Richmond Hill’s recipe for success at Benefits Canada’s 2018 Workplace Benefits Awards. The organization took home the award for best health and wellness program for a company with less than 1,000 employees at a ceremony in Toronto on Oct. 11. […]
When HSBC Bank Canada donated $500,000 to four children’s hospitals across the country last month, it was up to employees to decide on the recipients of those donations. Employees chose children’s health as the cause they most wanted to support, says Kim Toews, executive vice-president and head of human resources at HSBC Bank Canada. Read: Canadians want […]
Some 71 per cent of global employers have a defined wellness program for their employees, according to a new report by the Top Employers Institute. The survey, which queried 1,300 employers audited and certified by the institute, found North America is leading the way in wellness programs, with 80 per cent of employers offering them, up 34 percentage points […]
More than a third (34 per cent) of Canadians cite workplace stress as the primary cause of their mental-health issue, according to a new white paper by Morneau Shepell Ltd. and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. The survey, which polled 1,575 people, found depression and anxiety were the top two mental-health issues, making up 69 per cent of all […]
The Great-West Life Assurance Co. is providing a bike pavilion to employees who commute on two wheels to its head office in Winnipeg. With storage for up to 162 bicycles, the covered pavilion spans 1,800 square feet. It features a two-tier rack system to store the bikes, a pneumatic lift to help employees get their bicycle to […]