Hi, Alan freezin, here certified Employee Benefits specialist. This tip is just marginally marginally related to employee benefits. It's really about wellness programs that an employer might establish in their business. So let's say you already have a group benefit program in place. Well, that group group program is designed hopefully, to contribute to the health and wellness of your employees. Right.

That's what it's there for. And then further, you have a business interest where it's going to help you attract and retain the best people. So those are good things. And now on expanding the role of the health and wellness of the employees, there's a more that you may be interested in doing well, what might that look like? Well, one is your employee. Your Employee Benefit Program might include an employee Family Assistance Program.

So an employee Family Assistance Program is something to assist with mental health challenges that people People have right? Further, every one of the insurers have some sort of wellness tools built into their online presence, right? Where you can encourage your employees to use those tools. So lots of time. Most times it's a health assessment sort of a thing. So a health assessment that they do, and it kind of gives them feedback on what's working for them and what they might want to consider differently.

So that might be one thing. There is also wellness programs that are available. So there's a health spending account, which are for medical services that fall within Canada revenues, list of eligible expenses, but wellness programs that you can structure and you can use an insurer or you can do this in house, where those wellness programs will assist employees with fitness goals or health goals. You know, it could be nutritional counseling, that might not be part of your benefit program. Could be gym memberships, could be purchase of fitness equipment, those kind of things. So there's lots of different variables that you can do, start a good place to start is to use the tools that you already have through the Employee Benefit provider you already have.

So whether that's Blue Cross or sunlight, or great West, they are in Khan or whomever they have tools that you can assist and share with your employees. And then from there, then perhaps that would be the basis of where you can build a wellness program. You might don't want to use that for anything, but you could use it as a starting point, and then perhaps even engage with local providers. I had a client recently that they were looking at a wellness program, and instead of going with the insurance company wellness program, they design their own. And one of the reasons why that makes sense is because the wellness programs are a taxable benefit. When the employee receives benefit from a wellness program, that's a taxable benefit to them.

So there's less advantage from having an insurance company involved in it. So if the employer just sets the criteria and says here's what we're going to do for you, here's the maximum amount that we will pay Then in their case, they engaged a local fitness expert to to say here if you want to, to assess your health and develop a fitness program that's going to serve your needs, we will pay for that. And so that's the way that they structured it. But there's 1000 different ways you can structure it. Anyways, I have some great ideas on that. If you wish to talk to me about that.

I can certainly would love to consult with you on some ways that you might expand your wellness role for you and your employees. And of course, helping them stay healthy and their families stay healthy is going to serve you as well in your business pursuits. Thank you much. Keep. Well my contact information is on the last screen, give me a show and we'd gladly speak with you. Thanks much.

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