Policies

GSI sponsors and administers national group plans for pension and benefits. All employers sign agreements (participation for pension and subscription for benefits) that define their roles and responsibilities which include remitting contributions and premiums. GSI expects to receive the remittance by the 15th of the month following the respective payroll.

Remittances past due

30 DAYS PAST DUE – GSI will contact the Treasurer of the Employer by telephone and/or e-mail to remind the employer that payment is expected and late.

If the Employer is responsive and indicates that they are have some temporary financial hardship, GSI will work with that employer to establish a payment schedule to bring the account up to date.

If the situation continues on an ongoing basis, the employer’s financial viability may need to be assessed by the employer’s management team and the Synodical office.

60 DAYS PAST DUE – If the Employer has not been responsive after 60 days, GSI will email the Treasurer of the Employer requesting immediate payment. The respective Synod Bishop and the Chairperson of the Employer and the Plan Member(s) affected will be copied.

This correspondence will:

• indicate that the plan member’s pension contributions will not gain the full advantage of timely investment when contributions are late. The Employer may be liable for missed investment returns. The pension regulator may need to be advised and risk plan deregistration affecting all plan members.
• indicate that non-payment of benefits premiums could jeopardize a member’s health and life claims and create a significant liability to the Employer.

90 DAYS PAST DUE – If payment is not received after 90 days the respective Synodical Bishop shall be asked to begin disciplinary action as described in the Church Bylaws:

CHBYLAWS, Part II, Section 6c. “Willfully violating or disregarding the constitution or official actions of this Church or the Synod.”

Desperate measures

GSI reserves the right to engage a collection agency or initiate court action, as the situation may require.

Effective October 2024

ELCIC Group Services Inc., ‘GSI’ will strive to provide all communications in clear and simple language that is free of industry jargon. GSI will also strive to make its key messages relevant, understandable and provide information that is complete, correct, consistent and unbiased.

Our communication will protect members’ privacy, maintain clear boundaries and ensure that bullying and harassment does not occur.

The authorized spokespersons of GSI are the Board Chair / President and the Executive Director. All public information appears on the website.

Communications should always:

• be respectful and constructive;
• maintain the privacy of plan members and staff and board;
• attempt to educate or clarify, especially in response to negative comments;
• comply with all GSI policies.

Communications must not:

• intimidate, humiliate or bully another person;
• be misleading, false or injure the reputation of another person;
• be dishonest or untrue;
• interfere with the duties and obligations as a GSI employee.

GSI will monitor online activity to ensure there are no breaches of this policy. Anyone in violation of this policy may lose online privileges or may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Suspected violations of any laws may be referred by FSI to the appropriate authorities, and GSI reserves the right to seek legal action against violators for damages to GSI’s reputation.

GSI uses a range of tools to communicate with our members:

Website

The website includes current information on plan coverages, policy documents, guidance for treasurers and retirement planning for plan members. No offensive content or photos will be published. Feedback is welcomed from plan members and employers to improve the information available on the site.

Electronic

GSI typically communicates with members and employers by email for regular business correspondence. Telephone conversations are confirmed with an email.

Newsletters

GSI provides regular newsletters to plan members with plan information, wellness tips and other current information. Newsletters are e-mailed to plan members and archived on the website.

Member Pension Statements

Pension account statements for all plan members are produced and distributed semi-annually as per regulatory requirements.

Annual Report

An Annual Report for the Pension Plan is produced and posted on the website. Plan members are notified when it is available with a link to the website. Printed copies are available on request.

Presentations

Presentations to specific groups (e.g. treasurers) and at gatherings (i.e. study conferences and conventions/assemblies) are usually in-person but may be online. At these events GSI representatives may also have a display and converse with attendees.

Videos

GSI creates videos, as needed, that are relevant to the pension and benefits plans and distributes those via the website and e-news.

Communications to GSI from Plan Members or Employer Representatives

GSI expects to receive communications that are respectful and constructive.

Communication:

1. must not offend, intimidate, humiliate or bully another person;
2. must not be misleading or false, or injure the reputation of another person;
3. must respect and maintain the privacy of members.

A response may not be provided to communications received that do not meet these standards.

Please also see the GSI Privacy Policy.

Who this policy applies to

ELCIC Group Services Inc (“GSI”) has contracted with Manulife Financial for a group extended health care plan, which is available to individuals who are:

• former employees of subscribing employers, which are now retired and have attained age 60, and
• ELCIC Long Term Disability (LTD) members, which are now receiving LTD benefits

Member must be residing in Canada and must have been previously enrolled in, or eligible for the active member group extended health benefit plan.

Premium payments

Retired and LTD members are financially responsible for the monthly premium which must be made by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) from the member’s designated bank account. The applicable enrollment form must be completed, signed and a void cheque attached.  The EFT occurs on the 10^th day of each month or the next following business day of each month.

Declined or returned payments

If the EFT payment is declined by the financial institution for any reason it must be replaced with a cheque within 30 days otherwise enrollment will be terminated.

If the EFT payment is declined or a replacement cheque is returned for any reason, three times in a 12 month span, GSI reserves the right to terminate coverage and coverage cannot be reinstated at a later date.

Additional information

A description of what the extended health care plan covers as well as eligibility and administration information is available at www.elcicgsi.ca. You may contact the GSI office to have a printed copy mailed to you.

Effective January 1, 2012

ELCIC Group Services Inc. ‘GSI’ as the Pension Plan Administrator recognizes that many ELCIC plan members do not have the expertise and resources to make asset allocations decisions and investment choices, which are critical to growing the account to provide a reasonable income in retirement.

Due to the geographical spread and low employee to employer ratio, GSI is unable to meet the applicable regulator’s ‘Know Your Client’ annual requirement to meet personally with and document a plan member’s risk tolerance, investment knowledge and financial position.

For the same reason of geography and low number of individuals per site, it is very challenging for GSI to adequately educate plan members on investment and financial matters in order for them to make their own informed asset allocation decisions and investment choices.

These factors make it prohibitive for GSI, due to its fiduciary responsibilities, to offer plan members investment choice within their pension account and GSI as plan administrator determines the investment selection and asset allocation policy.

ELCIC Group Services Inc. (“GSI”)

Policy for Member Unsupported Benefits Claims

Background

The Manulife on-line claims system allows plan members to submit electronic health claims without submitting a receipt. Manulife randomly selects claims for audit as well as when certain flags within the claim are triggered. The audit of any claim, regardless of selection method, may include:

• requesting receipts from the member,
• confirming the claim with the service provider, and
• conversations with both member and provider.

In any selected audit Manulife may uncover unsupported or fraudulent claims. Manulife has established policies regarding appropriate responses to a variety of findings. Based on the Terms & Conditions that the plan member agrees to when using and submitting claims via the Plan Member site, Manulife is authorized to share detailed information of the findings with the plan sponsor GSI.

GSI Policy

Upon notification and review of information on any findings indicating a plan member has made unsupported or fraudulent claims, GSI expects the plan member to repay the full amount of these unsupported and/or fraudulent claims. Manulife will pursue repayment in accordance with their policy.

Whether or not the amount is repaid in full, GSI will notify the employer and terminate the members group benefits plan enrollment which includes not only the specific benefit on which the fraud was committed, but includes health, travel, dental, life insurance, short and long term disability, Accidental Death Disease & Dismemberment, and Employee & Family Assistance Plan.

In the case of a Rostered plan member, the Synodical Bishop will also be advised.

ELCIC Group Services Inc. (GSI), operates on a not for profit basis and therefore fees are charged on a cost recovery basis with no anticipated margin for excess profit.

For the ELCIC Group Benefits Plan, GSI may charge employers, premiums that are higher than the premiums required by the insurance companies to be retained by GSI as a fee for service.

For the ELCIC Pension Plan, GSI charges a management fee that is deducted against investment income or loss which is allocated to member accounts.

Fees are determined based on costs and expenses as follows:

GSI in its role as Administrator enters into contracts on behalf of the ELCIC Pension Plan.  These contracts are for services that are wholly attributable to the Pension Plan and include, but are not limited to:

1. investment management;
2. pension consulting;
3. legal advice;
4. audit and tax services;
5. asset custody and;
6. performance monitoring.

There are additional expenses that GSI incurs that relate to both the pension and benefits administration.  These include, but are not limited to:

1. salaries and benefits;
2. software;
3. board oversight expenses;
4. communications media: newsletters, web, annual report;
5. rent;
6. insurance;
7. office supplies;
8. postage;
9. capital expenditures.

GSI charges the pension plan a management fee on a cost recovery basis for portion of these shared costs.  The portion is determined annually based on staff time split between the pension and benefits plans.

GSI’s Privacy Policy was updated and approved effective October 26, 2017.

The privacy officer is Lisa Thiessen, who can be reached at

1-877-352-4247

or write to her attention at:

ELCIC Group Services Inc.,  177-805 Lombard Ave., Winnipeg MB, R3B 0W5