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
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……..
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My stat/holiday pay has been messed up before, but they just fix it for the next paycheque
