"I'm feeling down."

"I feel bummed out"

"I'm depressed."

It can be pretty common to hear these kinds of statements. But clinical depression is not simple unhappiness. It's a complex mood disorder—and it's important to know the difference.

Continue reading to learn how to help employees who struggle with depression and mental health in the workplace.

When people think of Canada, they think of a lot of things, and “free healthcare” is usually one of them.

If you have employees living and working in Canada, you may be wondering, “What does free healthcare really mean? And what does it actually cover?”

Most importantly, what do you, as an employer, need to know about providing employee benefits to workers stationed in Canada?

In this blog, we’ll go over things you need to know about the healthcare benefits landscape in Canada, so you can protect your business while taking care of your people.

According to the latest Help Wanted Survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), there were 399,000 vacant jobs in Canada in the fourth quarter of 2017. British Columbia has the highest job vacancy rate at 3.9%, up from 3.6% three months earlier. 

If your organization is feeling the strain, you might consider bringing in: 

• inpatriates (an employee of a multinational company who is from a foreign country, but is transferred to your corporation's headquarters) or,
• temporary foreign workers.

But in doing this, it’s crucial to be aware of what’s involved when offering these workers employee benefits.

Asana, Skype, Hootsuite, Slack: workplaces are becoming increasingly digital, with new apps emerging on an almost daily basis. But these technologies can do more than improve project management and office communication. The right health insurance apps can also help your employees connect more strongly to your organization, to their benefits plan, and to each other.

Do you hire and work with contractors?

Not every employer realizes that in addition to “independent contractors” and “employees”, there now exists a third worker category called “dependent contractors.” If you don’t recognize or understand this third category, you may be putting your business at risk legally and financially.

How much do you know about your employees’ financial wellness? Are they readily making ends meet? Or are they secretly distraught with financial woes?

Money is a sensitive topic, and people often feel awkward revealing their concerns. Whether you realize it or not, financial woes are likely affecting your employees and may be contributing to mental health issues.

Chronic disease is an unfortunate growing reality in Canada. Why? First, the population is aging. Second, many people are adopting unhealthy lifestyles.

Today 25 percent of adult Canadians have clinical obesity, which is a major cause of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

The federal government is changing the rules governing parental and maternity leave in Canada. These updated rules, announced on Thursday, November 9 will come into effect December 3, 2017.

What do these new rules mean for your business and how can you plan for the changes?

Ensuring employees are happy at work is one of the most important jobs for any employer.

Happy employees create positive and productive work environments, allowing everyone to thrive while working together toward a common goal.

Offering great employee benefits plays a major role in the health of your organization.