Companies such as Uber say they’re ushering in the “gig economy” where people can opt to work on any schedule, no matter how irregular. It’s not so new. Construction has always operated something like that with workers going on and off payroll through seasonal shifts, economic cycles and from project to project. Providing benefits for seasonal and temporary construction workers is something of a specialty for the British Columbia Construction Association Employee Benefit Trust (BCCA EBT) which puts its Hour Bank offering at the centre of the program.
"Essentially Hour Bank allows seasonal, casual or contract-termed employees to bank time while they’re working to cover periods when they’re not," says BCCA EBT CEO Arthur Chung. "It’s a very old concept, but not thoroughly understood by some of the employers who are most likely to benefit from offering it. It’s a very fair, equitable and comprehensive way to provide benefits. It doesn’t look at the demographics of employees or the employer group. There’s no underwriting and it’s a flat rate tied to the hours an employee has deposited."
Employers appreciate Hour Bank for its administrative efficiency. All they need to do is to count up the hours worked by employees based on weekly or monthly payroll records and submit the required premium based on those hours. The more employees the company hires on a temporary, seasonal or contract basis, the more efficient the plan is to administer.
"While you could offer contract-termed employees a traditional benefit package, they wouldn’t have access to such insured benefits as disability," says Chung. "Carriers won’t allow an employer to provide that type of benefit because of the possibility of claims by employees just as their contract term ends. In Hour Bank you have an option to offer a lighter version of disability through an off-the-shelf life and disability product."
Traditional benefit plans require a waiting period before full benefits kick in, typically three months. Hour Bank achieves its own threshold by requiring employees to work 300 hours prior to full coverage. For a 35-hour week, the worker will bank 140 hours a month. The plan withdraws 150 hours per month as coverage goes forward.
"If a worker is laid off and has 450 hours left in the bank, that will guarantee three months of coverage," says Chung. "If there aren’t enough hours in the bank for the employee to receive benefits following the third month, there’s an opportunity for the worker to self-pay and extend coverage for that worker and his family for six months following a layoff."
Self-pay rates are even lower than those paid by the employer. That’s because the coverage is pro-rated to exclude disability, since the employee is no longer at work.
BCCA EBT currently offers two versions of the program. Hour Bank includes: extended health with vision care; dental care (including orthodontics); life insurance; accidental death and dismemberment; medical travel benefit; and employee and family assistance programs. Hour Bank Plus adds enhanced vision coverage, dependent life, long-term disability and more. And Hour Bank can work alongside a traditional plan, for example, to cover office staff.
"Our goals as an organization is to help employers to protect, retain and recruit employees," says Chung. "If an employee comes on board, whether seasonal, hourly, or on a contract term they want to be treated similarly to salaried employees when it comes to remuneration and benefits. Hour Bank helps employers who want to foster a caring and loyal culture. If the employer wants an employee to come back, those who have been covered by Hour Bank are often very keen to come back."
This content is sponsored by BCCA EBT in collaboration with ConstuctConnect™ Media. To learn more about BCCA EBT, visit www.bccabenefits.ca.
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