Hackers release corporate data stolen from London Drugs
Retailer London Drugs says cybercriminals who stole files from its corporate head office last month have released some of the data after it refused to pay a ransom.
As Canadian firms struggle to fill job vacancies, one advocacy group is calling on companies to increase their benefits coverage to include fertility treatments.
A recent survey from the Business Development Bank of Canada found that 55 per cent of Canadian small and medium-sized employers are struggling to hire the workers they need. The survey also found that more than 26 per cent are having a hard time retaining their staff.
According to the survey, which also polled employees, a desire for higher wages was the primary reason workers planned to change jobs in the next year, followed by increased benefits.
Tara Wood, board president of the advocacy group Conceivable Dreams and the campaign Fertility Benefits Matter, says now, amid the “great resignation,” is the “perfect time” for society to be having discussions on what kinds of fertility benefits employers can offer their workers.
“COVID has shown us that there’s a different way to live,” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. “People are looking for their employers to step up.”
FERTILITY BENEFITS IN CANADA
Fertility benefits can cover a wide range of treatments, including procedures, such as intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), testing and egg freezing, as well as the cost of fertility drugs.
The cost of treatments can range from an average $400 per year for egg, sperm or embryo storage to up to $20,000 per cycle of IVF. Infertility affects one in six Canadian couples, a number that has doubled since the 1980s, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
While there has been an increase in the number of American companies offering fertility coverage in their health-care plans, Canadian companies have been slower to adapt, says Wood.
“I started meeting with employers last year,” Wood said. “There’s certainly appetite (for providing fertility benefits), but there’s a big difference between saying these policies make sense and actually doing it. Talking about doing it and actually doing it are two different things, and very few are doing it in Canada right now.”
Earlier this year, Conceivable Dreams released the findings of a study that reviewed employer benefit plans in Canada. The review included a sample of small to large employers, across all provinces and in all industries. The study found that the majority of Canadian employers do not offer any fertility benefits.
Of those companies that did offer fertility benefits, the average lifetime coverage was $3,250. As well, only five per cent provided coverage for both fertility drugs and the costs of fertility procedures, the study found.
COMPANIES ‘WALKING THE TALK’
Aside from helping out employees with the financial cost of infertility, providing fertility benefits shows employees that companies are “walking the talk” when it comes to creating inclusive policies, says Woods.
Fertility for most women starts to decline in their 30s, which often forces women to make a choice mid-career between starting a family or continuing on their career path.
“If an employer is truly dedicated to gender equity within their organizations, these types of benefits, are really important, because it allows people to choose when they want to have a family,” Wood said.
“When we have options like egg freezing (coverage), which allows that couple to have that child five, six years down the road, that’s a huge benefit.”
Fertility benefits that cover a range of treatments would also help LGBTQ2S+ couples who are looking to have a child, as well as lower-income families or single people who may not have the financial means to pursue fertility treatments, she added. “We all need to play a role in making fertility more accessible.”
NEW ‘MINIMUM STANDARDS’
While employers may have concerns about increasing the price of their benefit plans, adding fertility coverage doesn’t have to substantially add to your bottom line, says Yafa Sakkejha, CEO of Beneplan.
Beneplan, which is an intermediary between employers and insurance companies, recently introduced a new series of “minimum health standards” to all their benefit plans, including coverage of $2,500 per lifetime for fertility drugs.
Sakkejha said her underwriters found that offering $2,500 in fertility coverage, resulted in an increase in the health premium by less than one per cent. She said since making the addition to the plans, over 90 per cent of her clients are choosing to renew it, with both management and HR departments getting on board.
“This is win-win-win,” Sakkejha told CTVNews.ca, noting that it a step in the right direction. “We’re starting to inch towards better coverage.”
Retailer London Drugs says cybercriminals who stole files from its corporate head office last month have released some of the data after it refused to pay a ransom.
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account.
Approximately 50 Montreal-area students — the vast majority of them female — were suspended Wednesday after their school deemed the shorts they were wearing were too short. On Thursday, several students staged a walk-out to protest what they believe is a "sexist" dress code that unfairly targets girls.
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
Despite its rough name, experts say most cases of 'slapped cheek disease' are mild and not a cause for concern.
Canadian soldiers and government officials arrived in northeastern France this week for a historic mission: returning an unknown Newfoundland soldier back home.
American Airlines has distanced itself from a court filing in which the carrier said a nine-year-old girl should have noticed there was a camera taped to the seat of an airplane lavatory.
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
A SWAT team raided rapper Sean Kingston's rented South Florida mansion on Thursday and arrested his mother on fraud and theft charges that an attorney says stem partly from the installation of a massive TV at the home.
The proprietors of Regina's sole discount theatre are aware they're carrying on a significant legacy.
When Jujhar Mann said he wanted to be a pastry chef on a grade school career project, he didn't imagine that pursuing his dream would land him on a popular Netflix baking competition.
A city known for its history, ties to outer space and southern barbecue, is also home to a Winnipeg chef dishing out dozens of perogies.
A Montreal photographer captured the moment a Canada goose defended itself from a fox at the Botanical Garden.
Public libraries in Atlantic Canada are now lending a broader range of items.
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.