I pay $1600 a year for my benefits and $750 for my msp. I get 80% on dental for minor work and 50% for major. For prescriptions i get 70%. I also have a $50,000 for life insurance. Thats basically all i get. I even broke my finger on my dominant hand which made my hand useless yet my benefits didnt wanna cover it. Saying i could still use my left. Pretty difficult being a painter in the automotive field.
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No, i dont have any discounts on sunglasses or eye exams glasses ect. Massages are only covered 70%. The way i see it, i have to pay more money out of my own pocket to take advantage of my benefits.

Alil update, my boss found out that i wasnt paid my stat and fired the accountant today because apparently im still supposed to be paid a full day for it.
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That seems kind of extreme. :suspicious: My stat/holiday pay has been messed up before, but they just fix it for the next paycheque

Sounds like it's not the first time his boss had an issue with his accountant lol

I think its really extreme to be fired over that. Im just assume that he fucked up in the past and this was his final straw
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IIRC....medical benefit plans Ive been in don't cover sunglasses because they're non-prescription items...








......but you CAN get them 'covered'................:ilied:

For $1600/year hopefully they're throwing in massages with happy endings every few months.

I am not sure I get it, do they take 1600/yr off your paycheck to cover the coverage (shown as a deduction to your declared wage in your paystub) or they offer the coverage and you just somehow figured out it's 1600 a year for your coverage and wants out to get the $1600?

The first scenario is illegal and you can sue your employer down to their asses.

The second scenario, there's nothing you can do about. They decided to cover everyone and it is a benefit or incentive for the job. That money is not for you to keep and you can't make your employer to opt you out and pay you that money.

I have seen an account statement on how much it costs for my employer to keep me on the job. It can cost them up to 11K/yr if I exercise all the benefits, but it doesn't mean I can ask my employer for another 11k a year if I tell them I would opt out all the benefits.

it's sounds like it's the first scenario...and no, it's not illegal i dont think unless the employer downright refuses his requests after formal letters.

OP please go talk to the HR

^

If that's the case, the OP's extended health care should be a health saving account rather than benefit.

As far as my experience goes on setting payrolls, I am not suppose to deduct/withhold anything besides the items allowed by law like CPP, EI... etc

Long-time lurker, first post. So after lurking on this thread and seeing all the misinformation, I felt it necessary to sign up for a revscene account. (btw….that is a lot of useless questions for an account. Why do you need to know my ethnicity? Is there a quota? ) but I digress....

Since I have letters after my name and deal with these types of questions everyday, I found it painful to see what has been posted and hopefully I can help out some of you kids.

Employers cannot make deductions from your pay unless you have given written authorization. (ie. You break something or your till is short….can’t take the money from your cheque) However, at some point you signed benefit enrollment forms, provided your care card number, etc. This was probably when you were first hired. They said welcome to the company, fill out these forms so you gave them authorization.
Can they continue to ‘force’ you to be enrolled in the benefit plan? Possibly yes for a few related reasons.

The first falls under the term “Condition of Employment”. Restaurants - it is a condition of employment that all staff where skimpy black dresses. Construction - it is a condition of employment you have a tool belt and basic tools. It is a condition of employment that you are enrolled in the benefit program.

Based on what I have read I am going to assume you are single, and as already mentioned, as a single person you don’t use the plan or draw from the plan like a family does, so it can be in the policy that ALL employees must be enrolled in order to keep the costs down. Your premiums are covering the cost of the plan.

It is also could because there are only certain times of the year you can make changes to your plan. The reason for this is so employees don’t sign up for benefits for two months, get dental work and then cancel your plan increasing the cost of the plan. Insurance companies are not about to lose money on plans so if they write conditions into the policy and I can assure you’re the next year’s premiums will be increased.

Your boss is a bit of an idiot for explaining it to you by saying if you go off it everyone will go off it. Not possible to terminate the plan due to one person.

Recouping what you have paid into the plan is highly unlikely. It is difficult to back date, enrollment and terminations from benefit plans. It is possible but enrollment usually means a visit from the nurse to be considered late-enrollment:eek: and terminations requires ensure you have never made a claim during that period and knowing your policy and insurance company.

The majority of the time, employers offer benefits to employee and employees pay for them is because it is at discount. You can get private Extended Health and Dental coverage through BCAA, Pacific Blue Cross and London Drugs to name a few. It will cost you more than $1,600 a year.

I am interest to know who your provider is. One of the big players or smaller underwriters. It doesn’t matter as there should be a contact number for you to call and ask questions and discuss opting out of some of the benefits. If you can provide proof you are covered by another policy, you can usually opt out. (ie. You have private insurance, life insurance or LTD coverage elsewhere)

MSP premiums, just increased Jan 1 for the 3rd consecutive year. Usually an employer pays your premiums and deducts a portion, shared costs 50/50, pay for employee but not dependents, or after working a certain time period. I don’t know why your employer would want the hassle of administering your MSP account as it is a BC resident cost not an employer cost. (In other provinces, MSP is funded by employers) As a single person, you pay $64 per month. If your employer pays it, it is a taxable benefit and should be on your T4 in box 40.

Paying tax on $64 is usually cheaper than paying the $64 with your after-tax income but it all depends on your earnings situation so even if your employer is deduction 100% from your pay, you are still coming out ahead.

While I am rambling about taxable benefits….whoever said that their employer pays their LTD and now it is a taxable benefit, ask your employer what happens if you need to claim LTD in the future is the money you receive taxable? LTD is treated differently than other benefits and if your employer pays LTD, any LTD benefits you receive are taxable. Would you rather pay tax on the premium or the amount you receive. (ie; ball park maybe your LTD is $50 a month and you receive 66.6% of your salary if you have to make a claim. Which figure would you rather pay tax on?

Short and Long Term Disability: these benefits can be set up in one of two ways: taxable or non-taxable.
1. Taxable: It the benefit is set up as taxable, premiums paid by the employer do not confer a taxable benefit upon the employee. However, when an employee becomes disabled, the benefits received from the insurance company are deemed taxable income.
2. Non-Taxable: it the benefit is set up as non-taxable, the employee should pay for the entire premium. If an employee becomes disabled, any benefit received would be non-taxable.

As far as breaking you finger, if you lost your finger entirely or the use of it permanently, you would have had a claim but breaking it just means you have to suck it up for a few weeks.

If you don’t have STD (short-tem disability) and injury yourself that you can’t work, ie: broken leg and you are a truck driver, you apply for EI through Service Canada, get your doctor to sign a note, jump through some hoops and once the EI runs out, you can apply for LTD. LTD usually starts after 17 weeks.

80/20 for basic is pretty standard dental coverage. Major is usually 50/50 with set limits depending on the procedure. 70% prescription if they cover the dispensing fee is not bad.

I cannot figure out how you could possibly pay $750 for MSP. Last year it was $60.50 times 12 would be $726. Why the $24 difference?

To give you all an example of premiums for a ‘rich’ plan, meaning 100% dental, 100% prescriptions, $500 for an assortment of each paramedical (chiro, physio, massage, etc), orthotics, eyeglasses
Health Single $80 Family $198
Dental Single $60 Family $188
LTD based on salary of $50,000 $35 based on a salary of $300,000 $80
Life based on a salary of $50,000 $23 based on a salary of $300,000 $98

The math on that is about $2,400 a year for benefits for the $50,000 single person and $6,800 for the family with upper tax bracket earner.

I would ask to see a reconciliation of your benefits to see what the monthly premiums are, especially in light of the MSP not adding up and call the benefits company and ask about options as far as policy restrictions. If you have an HR department, or payroll and benefits person, see them instead of your manager.

Next post to clean up stat info……..

I think that is one of the best first posts I have seen....

Isn't it great when a long time lurker pops his cherry with a post like that?

Any of you who aren’t self employed bookmark the link below.

Government of B.C., Ministry of Labour, Employment Standards Branch, Government of B.C., Factsheet Index, Employment Standards in B.C.

There are easy to understand factsheets for an assortment of employment issues and in nine languages.

So stats….the other poster was close, but close doesn’t count when it comes to $$$$

To be eligible for statutory holiday pay and employee must:
• Have been employed for 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday and,
• Have worked or earned wages on 15 of the 30 days immediately before the statutory holiday.


No pay for ineligible employees
An employee who is not eligible for statutory holiday pay is not entitled to be paid an average day’s pay. If an ineligible employee works on a statutory holiday he or she may be paid as if it were a regular work day.

Exclusions
Specific regulations exclude certain groups such as managers, agriculture workers, some commission salespersons, and high technology professionals from the statutory holiday provisions of the Act. Please see the factsheets relating to these groups.

Statutory holiday on a day off
When an employee is given a day off on a statutory holiday, or it falls on a regular day off, an eligible employee is entitled to be paid an average day’s pay.
An average day’s pay is calculated by dividing “total wages” earned in the 30 calendar days before the statutory holiday by the number of days worked.Vacation days taken during this period count as days worked.

“Total wages” includes wages, commissions, statutory holiday pay and vacation pay but does not include overtime pay.

Working on a statutory holiday
An eligible employee who works on a statutory holiday is entitled to be paid:
time-and-a-half for the first 12 hours worked and double-time for any work over 12 hours; plus
an average day’s pay.

Substituting statutory holidays
An employer and a majority of employees can agree to substitute another day off for a statutory holiday. The Act and Regulation apply to the substitute day as if it were the statutory holiday.

her cherry:hotbaby:

Damn...........

I think MG1 needs some Kleenex

her cherry:hotbaby:







back to lurking until some calls me out after find the factsheet on deductions from wages....remember...."condition of employment"

(I know benefit but not how to edit a post) :failed:

Im with Empire Life and for the $750 MSP, i was just rounding up. I believe i paid $726. Im alil unclear about the MSP thing. My company has nothing to do about paying my MSP, but ur saying its cheaper if they pay it, and i pay tax on it?

As for my broken finger, the Doctor wouldnt sign off on it. Told me i had to find a way to work with one hand. So i couldnt go on EI, and my benefits wouldnt pay for it either. I even went through the insurance company thru the Dodgeball league where i actually broke my finger and they wouldnt pay me the $500 i was entitled to when someone breaks a bone. After alot of letters being sent back and forth they told me they dont cover phalanges and i just gave up.

And i think that could be the most informative first post ive seen on RS

A broken finger would be difficult to get any kind of disability benefit. It is a suck it up buttercup situtation.

Empire Life isn't one of the big guys (Great West Life, SunLife, Pacific Blue Cross) so your policy premiums would be more expensive before there are any calculations due to number of employees covered by the plan, age and sex (male vs female not yes or no)

Sorry I misunderstood. I thought your employer was covering the cost of your MSP.

A 'generous' employer can enroll their employees in a group plan and pay the premiums for the employee. As I mentioned they can pay 100%, split it 50/50 or cover just the employee and deduct the cost of the employee's dependents.

Any portion the employer pays is considered a taxable benefit so you pay more income tax.

That's the other thing. The employer likely forces all employees for coverage in order to make the pool larger, which makes rates lower for everyone if the claims experience is low.