Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY While they have faced considerable instability of late, pen- sion benefits are still a major factor for many employees when deciding whether to accept a job. Nearly four in five (78 per cent) of workers and retirees with pension plans said the availability of pension benefits is a critical factor in deciding whether or not to accept a job, found a survey of 2,750 people in the United States and Canada. Not surprisingly, pensions are also important when it comes to retaining employees, as nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of respondents said they stayed with an employer due to pension benefits. Even the younger set find these benefits appealing, with 82 per cent of those ages 20 to 37 (millennials) and 81 per cent of those ages 38 to 52 (generation X) citing the benefits as a critical factor in accepting a job, compared to 74 per cent of baby boomers (ages 53 to 71), found the survey by management consulting firm Accenture. People are starting to better understand how important their retirement is — and how ill-prepared they are, said Owen Davies, lead for the global pension practice at Accenture in Sacramento, Calif. "I also think the younger generations… their view of their careers is very portable, they're not going to sign on to a place out of college and work there and retire, so they need to make sure they're squeezing everything they can out of each employment opportunity when it comes to their retirement," he said. "ey have high expectations for the post-working phase of their life to do stuff, and when you ask them about it directly, it forces them to think about it and answer it correctly. So, I don't think it's a casual 'Yeah, that's important to me.'" Studies have shown a fairly large percentage of employees are stressed about their financial situation, and worried about not having enough money to retire, said Todd Saulnier, vice-chair of the national policy committee at the Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM) in Halifax. And employers recognize the importance of offering some kind of retirement savings plan, he said. "ey do feel it is a need, probably because their competitors are offering programs," he said. "It may not necessarily be a registered pension plan with a provincial authority, but it might be some savings vehicle." ere are more administrative and regulatory requirements in a pension plan, so some employers may prefer the group RSP/DPSP (deferred profit sharing plan) approach, said Saulnier. "In some sense, it might even support employees better because the locking-in rules with some pension legislation are a little restrictive." One the one hand, there's an increasing shortage of labour, according to Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) in Toronto. "Employers do recognize that to attract and retain talent, they're going to have to be more creative." But implementing a pension is probably one of the last steps an employer would take in that mix, he said. "It could be employee health and dental (benefits) before that, it could be additional vacation or some flexibility for work-life balance — there's a lot of steps an employer would try before going down the road of a pension." It's a challenge for many small to mid-size employers to play in that realm as there are not a lot of products Pensions still popular with workers: Poll But administrative burden, expanded CPP challenge employers BY SARAH DOBSON Sign up for the Canadian HR Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian HR Reporter. HR News at Your Fingertips THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Visit www.hrreporter.com/ canadian-hr-newswire

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