BC Ferries employee perk controversy

Recently, The Province newspaper reported that BC Ferries provided each of its 3,000 unionized employees with a $300 perk to recognize the “excellent safety record achieved in the past fiscal year.” The BC Ferries employees have the option of receiving either a $300 gift certificate from Mountain Equipment Co-op or SportChek — or $300 to help pay for fees at their local fitness or recreation centre. This perk sparked controversy amongst taxpayer groups and ferry users. CKNW AM 980 contacted Clear HR Consulting to discuss the BC Ferries employee perk controversy, as well as the changing nature of employee perks in general. Cissy Pau joined Sean Leslie on The World Today Weekend Show.

Cissy shared that the setting of goals and rewarding employees for achieving the targets is quite common, but in the case of the BC Ferries, the issue was more one of optics and a PR challenge, rather than the perk itself.

CKNW also wanted to know how employee perks have changed over time. Here are some employee perks from the past that we don’t see very frequently anymore:

Christmas turkey – we’re more multi-cultural and many people are vegetarian;
Gold-plated benefits plans – too expensive for SMEs;
Pension plans, especially defined benefit plans – too expensive, funding difficulties with low returns, portability issues; and
Length of service awards – Employees usually work at a company for a maximum of 5 years, so these make little sense anymore.

Currently, the kinds of employee perks we’re commonly seeing are more lifestyle-oriented perks:

In the tech industry, we see perks intended to keep employees at work as long as possible: meals from chefs or cafeterias, on-site gyms, concierge services for errand running, foosball tables and video games;
Group RRSP plans instead of pensions;
Health spending accounts instead of benefits plans for greater flexibility and cost certainty;
Flexible work hours and flexible work location;
Matching personal and corporate values through community volunteering days, wellness initiatives, leaves of absences to pursue personal passions, childcare subsidies, etc.

In the future, employees perks are expected to be further individualized for greater flexibility:

Perks will need to be customized to meet employees’ needs, and be meaningful to their specific values.
Employees will be governed more by “work to live”, and will seek employment and perks that support their desired lifestyle.