Answering the pandemic with agility: 'Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers' for 2021 are announced

TORONTO, April 6, 2021 /CNW/ - In the face of daunting economic and organizational challenges brought about by the pandemic, many of Canada's leading small and medium employers have responded by staying fleet of foot, building on past innovations to care for their employees and the communities where they operate. The best of these initiatives were recognized this morning, as Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers for 2021 were announced by Mediacorp Canada Inc., organizers of the annual Canada's Top 100 Employers project.

"These companies have proven to be extremely agile," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. "Not only were they able to transition employees to working from home right out of the gate, but many already had policies in place that allowed for flexible work. It was simply a matter of extending existing benefits, such as home office allowances and internet subsidies, to make the full transition."

"This year's winners provide important benefits that help employees find peace of mind during this time," adds Kristina Leung, Senior Editor of the project. "Nearly 80 per cent offer paid sick days, 65 per cent provide financial support to make mental health services more accessible, and over 50 per cent enable employees to personalize levels of health benefits coverage through health and wellness spending accounts."

Now in its 8^th year, Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers is an editorial competition that recognizes the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that offer the nation's best workplaces and forward-thinking human resources policies. Employers are evaluated by the editors at Canada's Top 100 Employers using the same criteria as the Top 100 competition: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. Employers are compared to other organizations in their industry to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs. The annual competition is open to any employer with its head office or principal place of business in Canada.  Employers must have less than 500 employees worldwide, including employees at affiliated companies, and be a commercial, for-profit business.

Here are a few examples of the unique programs and policies the editors noted at this year's winners:

• System1 Canada ULC maintains a special employee relief fund to help employees in need of additional financial support.
• Carebook Technologies Inc. allows employees to bring office equipment home and, during the pandemic, provided an extra $150 for other items to support productivity, mental health and physical health. Employees also receive two paid personal days every six weeks.
• During the pandemic, Johnston Group Inc. hired a clinical psychologist to help address concerns related to work from home challenges; the company also maintained its annual bonus plan to recognize individual employee efforts.
• R.V. Anderson Associates Limited hosted virtual social events to help keep employees connected while they worked from home – including mental health coffee breaks and virtual games and pub nights – and extended health and financial benefits to cover mental health and financial planning services.
• As part of the health benefits plan at Vidyard, the company offers a health spending account of $250 per year; the company recently increased its wellness spending account from $600 to $1,000 per year to assist staff working from home.
• Points offers virtual training to help employees adjust to work from home – topics include leading through uncertain times, mental health and well-being; in addition, the company organizes virtual wellness events three times per week.

Founded in 1992, Mediacorp Canada Inc. is the nation's largest publisher of employment periodicals. Since 1999, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which includes 18 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach millions of Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, one of Canada's largest job search engines, which reaches millions of unique visitors annually and features editorial reviews from the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. The company also publishes The Career Directory, now in its 28^th year – a free online guide for recent college and university graduates looking for employers hiring candidates from their educational background.

The full list of Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers was announced in a special magazine published this morning and featured online in The Globe and Mail. Detailed reasons for selection, with hundreds of additional stories and photos, were also released this morning and are accessible via the competition homepage.

SOURCE Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Stephanie Leung, Assistant Editor, Tel. [phone] x5334, https://www.canadastop100.com/sme/

Related Links

http://www.mediacorp.ca