The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) invites firms to submit a Proposal for the following:
1. Employee Benefit Administration Services; and
2. Employee Pension Plan Actuarial and Administration Services.
Description of Services
Employee Benefit Administration Services: The Contractor will be expected to provide, at minimum, the following:
(a) Overall management of the Employee Benefit Plan which will include:
(i) Review and analyze the experience of the employee benefit programs on an annual basis;
(ii) Provide special studies and reviews, as requested, with recommendations on costs and liabilities of various types of employee benefit programs in preparation of and/or as the result of collective agreement negotiations with the employees' union and/or internal policy changes; and
(iii) Prepare annual comprehensive benefit statements for each employee which are currently prepared in print format but the WCB is open to a transition to electronic and/or web-based format;
(b) Manage pricing and renewal of employee benefit programs and maintaining relationships with insurance carriers which will include:
(i) Manage annual renewal and fee negotiation process with insurance carriers;
(ii) Liaise with insurance carriers on contract/benefit booklet changes and any problems/issues with claim(s) adjudication or contract interpretation; and
(iii) Provide year-end financial analysis of the employee benefit programs including financial review, costing projections, and recommendations on any new proposed premiums;
(c) Employee Benefit Plan development, benchmarking and strategizing which will include:
(i) Maintain market competitiveness of the employee benefit programs on an ongoing basis, promote administrative efficiencies, and assist with identify and meeting strategic goals;
(ii) Negotiate changes to employee benefit programs with insurance carriers;
(iii) Provide comparative costing analysis and utilization reports, when requested, to describe current and future trends; and
(iv) Proactively advise the WCB of emerging issues with employee benefit programs including legislative changes and/or other internal/external changes that may substantively impact an employee benefit program; and
(d) Provide advice/support on administering post-retirement employee benefit programs such as the Retiree Extended Health Plan and Retiree Health Spending Account which may include conducting special studies and/or reviews to deliver recommendations on costs/liabilities regarding such programs.
In addition to the Services listed in subsections 7(a) through (d) above, the Contractor may also be requested to provide services outside the regular management of the Employee Benefits Plan, such as strategic advice relative to long-term considerations and planning for the Employee Benefits Plan.
Employee Pension Plan Actuarial and Administration Services: The Contractor will be expected to provide, at minimum, the following:
Actuarial Services:
(a) Actuarial valuation for accounting purposes (IAS 19) including financial budgets, projections and year-end reporting for various defined benefit plans, including:
(i) Annual valuation by January 20th for year-end purposes and by September 15th for budget purposes with description of methodology used to determine actuarial assumptions and methods used for each valuation purpose;
(ii) Analysis of hypothetical scenarios, as requested;
(iii) Annual presentation for the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors; and
(iv) Extrapolation of accounting results where a full actuarial valuation for accounting purposes including financial budgets, projections, and year-end reporting is not required;
(b) Annual valuation assumptions on a funding and solvency basis no later than March 1st;
(c) Preliminary valuation results (summarized format) on a funding basis no later than March 24;
(d) Annual full valuation report on a funding and solvency basis no later than May 1st;
(e) Internal presentations to WCB staff for the purposes of providing education, valuation information, and technical advice (i.e. Joint Advisory Pension Committee meetings, plan members information workshops);
(f) Continuing governance review relative to plan compliance with pension benefit legislation and Income Tax Act (Canada); and
(g) Review and advise on new and existing reciprocal transfer agreements with other pension plans.
Administration Services:
(h) Administration of the defined benefit plans, including but not limited to, the Registered Pension Plan (RPP) and the Supplementary Employee Retirement Plan (SERP);
(i) Data Management (storage, updating, extraction, and ad-hoc/year-end reporting) of historical and current data collected on behalf of the WCB, which will include plan member tombstone data, beneficiary and spouse designation, pension projections, required and voluntary contributions, credited service, continuous service, pensionable earnings, pension buy-back history, and marriage breakdown offsets.
(j) Benefit calculations and documentation which will be subject to a rigorous peer review practice to provide accurate preparation of forms/filings, which may include direct correspondence with plan members to review calculation, as requested by the WCB, within the following service standard timeframes:
(i) Termination/death calculations- ten (10) Business Days;
(ii) Authorization of payment- two (2) Business Days;
(iii) Certificate of benefit - two (2) Business Days;
(iv) Retirement calculations- five (5) Business Days;
(v) Retirement quotation calculations- ten (10) Business Days*:
(vi) Pension buy back calculations- ten (10) Business Days*:
(vii) Marriage breakdown calculations- fifteen (15) Business Days;
(viii) Annual information return- six (6) months following year-end;
(ix) Annual year-end extraction for comprehensive statements- February 20th;
(x) Annual cost-of-living adjustments- March 15th;
(xi) Voluntary contribution calculations- ten (10) Business Days;
(xii) Reciprocal agreement calculations- fifteen (15) Business Days; and
*The WCB is interested in any web-based, self-service options for retirement quotations and pension buy back calculations. Vendors are encouraged to include details of alterative services and costing options in their Proposal.
(k) Plan text amendments and booklet updates, as necessary.
In addition to the Services listed in subsections 9(a) through (k) above, the Contractor may also be requested to provide services not included in the regular management of the Employee Pension Plan, such as strategic advice relative to long-term considerations and planning for the Employee Pension Plan.
The Services shall normally be provided offsite from the Contractor's facilities located within Canada with onsite visits at the WCB's facilities located at 333/363 Broadway in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as necessary, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
The WCB expects the Contractor to be available within two (2) Business Days' notice to meet with its staff and/or plan members onsite at the WCB's facilities located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Vendors should specify if they have a local representative in Winnipeg, Manitoba to be able to accommodate such meetings without the WCB incurring travel/lodging/meal expenses. If a Vendor does not have a local representative in Winnipeg, Manitoba then the Vendor must specify the estimated cost to be charged for each onsite visit and/or advise what technology it has to address this preference.
The WCB expects the Contractor to be capable of providing the services directly without the use of any Subcontractor(s). Vendors must specify if they intend to use a Subcontractor for any part of the Services and provide a detailed description of same.
The Vendor is encouraged to provide details of any warranty period or fee discounts it provides if the Services are not performed in a timely or accurate manner in accordance with the service standard timeframes stated in subsection 9(j) above.
It is expected the Contractor will provide the Services for a five (5) year period.
The Vendor must have experience and knowledge with the following:
(a) Extensive knowledge/experience with employee benefit and pension plans; and
(b) Experience administering and providing actuarial services for other clients with defined benefit registered pension plans of similar size and scope of the WCB's plan.
The Proposal should include an overview of the proposed resource(s) being offered, including profiles of work which highlight their experience performing similar projects.
The Contractor will not be required to have and maintain workers compensation coverage for its workers who will be providing the Services, unless required pursuant to The Workers Compensation Act.
