Employee benefits are a composite of about seven or eight different benefits, not all of which are mandatory.The first set of benefits is Life Insurance type benefit starting with Life Insurance and usually for $25,000. per employee.Next is Accidental Death and Dismemberment.  This means that upon an accidental death $25k is paid in addition to the life insurance.  It also pays out on other contingencies such as blindness deafness and loss of limbs.The third life type benefit is Dependent Life which covers spouse and dependent children of employees, usually $5,000 on the spouse and $2500 per dependent child.

• The next set of benefits is Disability type benefits. The first is Short Term Disability which covers the first 4 months even from the very first day of disability if desired.
• The next is Long Term Disability which is usually to age 65 but I almost always advocate a 5 year benefit period – mainly because the definition of disability changes after 2 years to unable to do any occupation from unable to do your own occupation.
• The next is Critical Illness. This benefit which is usually $25k pays out if an employee contracts any of the 24 listed life threatening illnesses.

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The next benefits are Health and Dental.

Health Care usually referred to as Extended Health Care is a supplement to the provincial medical plan all Canadians have access to. This supplement pays for things the provincial doesn’t pay for such as prescription drugs and paramedical services such as chiropractors, physiotherapists and acupuncturists to name a few. It also covers vision care, semi-private hospital, major medical expenses such as medical equipment and also out of country travel. All employees and spouses will receive a drug card which basically acts as a credit card for drugs and other items that can be billed directly by the provider.

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Dental Care encompasses 3 things:

• Routine dental which includes cleanings fillings, root canals, endodontics, periodontics, x-rays, fluoride treatments etc., can be up to 100%.
• Major dental refers to crowns, bridges and dentures and is usually capped at 50%.
• Orthodontics is the 3^rd type of dental. This is usually braces for teenage children but can be for adults also. Orthodontics is usually 50%.

A question that is often asked is if benefits can be coordinated with an employee’s spouse’s benefit plan and the answer is yes. The only stipulation is that an employee cannot collect more than 100% of his expense.

Contact us for more information at (604) 644-7662