Last week, Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga sent a message to all staff, inviting feedback on a proposal to remove the staff benefit of Life and Income Protection.
Summarised below…
Proposal:
- Effective from 31 March 2023, Unitec’s Income Protection and Life Insurance plans will no longer continue.
Feedback is welcome, particularly around any alternative ideas you may have. Closing 4pm Thursday 10 February 2023.
Consultation timeline:
- 19 January 2023: Communications sent to kaimahi
- 10 February 2023: Consultation closes 4pm
- 13 – 17 February 2023: Feedback reviewed
- 23 February 2023: Outcome confirmed and communicated to kaimahi
Background
Unitec’s Income Protection and Life Insurance benefit coverage is currently available to all kaimahi who fit the following criteria:
- employed in a permanent, full and part time (0.5 FTE and above) role
- began employment prior to 1 January 2023
- under the age of 70 years
These benefits have been a great help to a number of kaimahi and their whānau over the years, when the unexpected has happened.
With the move of Unitec to Te Pūkenga, the insurer has informed us it will be difficult to maintain the benefits in their current form, due to complexities of the policy ownership and the potential risk that Unitec will no longer meet the plan eligibility.
Additionally, Unitec’s pathway to financial sustainability in 2023 means we must make substantial ongoing cost savings. As a result, we continue to review all of our expenditure in an effort to avoid staffing cuts. It is timely to review the continuation of these plans.
Exploring alternatives
We have taken considerable steps to explore alternative options including ‘grandparenting’ the policies to current Unitec employees who commenced employment prior to 1 January 2023.
Our broker and the insurers, they unfortunately advised the cost of premiums would increase in this situation.
If you are feeling unsure or anxious, please reach out to your manager, or access the support available to you.
FAQs
- What do the current policies cover?
A summary of the policies is on Te Aka, read it here. - I have a current claim in progress. What does this mean for me?
Nothing changes, your current arrangement continues under the terms of the plan. - What if I want to claim between now and the potential end date?
Please speak with your line Manager and HR Business Partner to discuss this further. - Can I choose to buy my own insurance coverage?
Our insurance broker, Mercer Marsh is investigating whether staff could continue the coverage, paying for it themselves. We will let you know the outcome as soon as we have an answer. - I am a fixed term or casual employee, what does this mean for me?
Under the current insurance plans, you do not meet the eligibility for coverage. - My FTE is less than 0.5FTE, am I still covered?
You are not eligible for the current plan. The terms of the plans require you to be 0.5FTE or more to be eligible. - Is Te Pūkenga going to offer similar income protection or Life Insurance benefits in the future?
Te Pūkenga are interested in exploring future staff benefits. We will share more as we learn details going forward.
This would be terrible news if we lost this benefit.
Unitec is cutting back on everything from staff especially on this insurance which is so very important for all staff & with Parking changes to come into effect in January is extra burden on staff & it’s families as our wages are also slowly eroded not to mention the cost of living going up and up its becoming difficult to make ends meet
This withdrawal of staff life and income protection insurance benefit coupled with paid parking can only be reagarded as pay cuts, at a time when cost of living is going up the roof!
Unitec does not hold much attraction to staff who are so dedicated to it over the years. It’s sad to see such a small perk also taken away together with the free parking! Strongly recommend that Unitec leaders seek alternatives to continuously provide a similar or equivalent insurance policy.