Gilgunn Benefit Management is a Victoria, BC custom group insurance broker. We are able to provide benefits in BC and Ontario.
Group insurance
On this page
Group Life Insurance
Short-Term Disability
Long-Term Disability
Group Life Insurance
Group Life Insurance is the base of most group benefit plans.
most employees qualify for group insurance without medical evidence
appeals to individuals who have a medical condition that would make it difficult to get individual life insurance
offers lower premium costs
only available for the duration of employment
Plan Administrators please note the following:
All Group Life insurance premiums paid by the employer are a taxable benefit to the employee.
Optional Group Life is available where individual employees can purchase additional insurance at a group rate and at their own expense. For employees who choose this route, it is an inexpensive way of increasing their life insurance without incurring a large expense.
Other options for Life Insurance include:
Accidental Death & Dismemburement (AD&D)
Pays an amount equal to the basic Group Life insurance for accidental death (as opposed to illness). It also pays a certain amount should the insured employee lose, or lose the use of, important body parts by violent and external means.
Dependent Life
Insures the spouse and children for small amounts (i.e. $5,000 on child, $10,000 spouse).
Group Disability Plans
A Group Short-Term Disability Plan also called Weekly Indemnity (WI) is paid to a claimant on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Weekly Indemnity becomes payable when an employee becomes sick or injured and unable to work. There is a waiting period before benefit eligibility begins, usually one day for accidents and from three to seven days for illness.
The period of time over which benefits are received ranges from 17 weeks to two years, with most plans falling in the 17 - 26 week range. The most common benefit paid is 66.67% of the weekly wage to a maximum amount determined by plan design, with most benefit payments falling in the $450 - $1400 range. If a Long Term Disability Plan has been included, the Short Term benefit period will be designed to end when the Long Term benefit begins.
Plan Administrators please note the following points:
Employment Insurance (EI) also offers a sickness benefit equal to 55% of an employee’s weekly wage to a maximum of $573/wk (for 2021). This benefit has a 7 day waiting period before eligibility, and the maximum benefit period is 15 weeks. In keeping with other government income replacement programs, there are longer delays in collecting the benefit, and more ''red tape'' in processing a claim. However, EI does act as a safety net for employees who do not have Short Term Disability benefits.
If the employer has a Short Term Disability Plan in place that is equal to, or exceeds, that offered by EI (most do), the employer is entitled to a reduction of the EI premium. The current employer EI rate is 1.4 times the employee rate. With a qualifying WI plan in place the employer may be entitled to reduce their EI rate to 1.166. As an example an employee whose earnings are $56,300 or over for the year 2021 the reduced rate would produce a savings of $208.16 for this year. Lesser employee earnings would show proportional results. Also to note those savings must be shared with the employee on the basis of 5/12ths to the employee and 7/12ths to the employer.
A Group Long Term Disability Plan gives employees security. Without a plan in place, a long term disabled employee is only able to claim a disability pension from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The maximum pension is $1,413.66 each month (as of January 2021), and only if they had been paying the maximum contribution to CPP each year. Also, the definition of disability that CPP requires before paying that pension is that the disability is, severe and prolonged. Under a group plan, the monthly paid benefit would be higher, and the definition of disability will be more favourable to the disabled claimant. In other words, your medical condition does not have to be as severe, and you will receive a higher monthly benefit.
An example of the value of long term disability group plan would be a 25 year old disabled worker who is entitled to a monthly benefit of $2,000. He or she would, over the course of the disability and if it lasted to age 65, would collect $960,000 from this plan.
A common LTD benefit plan is 112 day wait /to age 65 /two year own occupation protection /66.67% benefit/$2000 to $10,000 maximum benefit. This translates to an employee becoming disabled and unable to work waiting 112 days (the elimination period) at which point the employee will become eligible to collect a disability benefit that will continue until the earliest of age 65, until they die, or are no longer disabled. During the first two years of the disability they must be unable to perform the essential duties of the occupation they were in when the disability started. After two years, in order to continue to qualify for benefits, they must be unable to work at any occupation. The amount of benefit received will be based on 66.67% of their monthly salary prior to disability with the the maximum benefit based on the terms of the group LTD policy. LTD plans vary in design in terms of benefit amounts, waiting periods and occupation classification.
Plan Administrators please note:
When the employee pays the premium for the LTD plan, the disability benefit received will be tax free. If the employer pays the premium (even a small portion of it), any disability benefit the employee receives will be fully taxed.
Long Term Disability plans are usually in conjunction with a Short Term Disability (WI plan) or EI sickness benefit. These latter plans are usually around 17 weeks (112 days).