Standard Life Improves Its Offering to Help Employers Create a Healthier Workplace

The Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada (“Standard Life”) today announced that it has expanded the range of its health and wellness consulting services and tools to support employers who wish to implement or enhance their health and wellness programs.

Research shows that health and wellness programs increase productivity and companies that implement an effective health and wellness program achieve a turnover rate that is 40% below that of their competitors.1

“Employees’ health has a direct impact on a company’s bottom line. That’s why it’s important for employers to offer more than just group insurance plans. Preventive measures are key to helping employees adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle. They also have a positive influence on the workplace environment and a company’s overall results,” said Christine Potvin, Vice-President, Group Insurance, Customer Experience. “Companies both large and small are paying greater attention to the health of their employees. With an aging workforce and an increase in the scarcity of labour, this trend will become even more prevalent in the future. What distinguishes Standard Life’s comprehensive approach is the way it integrates health and wellness with drug and absence management programs. Our customers stand to gain in terms of productivity and their ability to retain talent.”

As part of its new consulting services, Standard Life offers expert advice and support for the design, implementation and evaluation of tailored health and wellness strategies and programs. It also assists employers who wish to achieve the Healthy Enterprise Standard, a certification that recognizes the achievements of Québec-based companies of all sizes in developing sustainable, workplace health programs.

Standard Life, in collaboration with Homewood Human SolutionsTM, now offers:

-A series of online health risk evaluation tools for employees
-Screening tests, such as cholesterol and glycemia measurements, performed by a nurse in the workplace
-Personalized coaching on the telephone
-Employee workshops
-Online interactive challenges
-A self-directed weight management and wellness program.

These new tools complement the health benefits diagnostic analysis that Standard Life has been offering to employers and which uses a company’s health claims history to provide an analysis of its situation, its employees’ health problems and their related costs.

They are also supported by the online Health and Wellness Centre that is accessible on Standard Life’s public website and contains practical information, tips and tools for adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Benefits to employees, employers and advisors

With Standard Life’s health and wellness offering:

-Employees can benefit from better health, increased energy and improved satisfaction with regard to their employer.
-Employers can help control health care and group insurance plan costs, as well as absenteeism, in addition to increasing productivity and improving their ability to attract and retain employees.
-Advisors can offer a one-stop shop for their customers’ needs in health and wellness, absence and drug management, and employee and family assistance programs.

1Source: Towers Watson, “Staying@Work 2009”

----

Note to editors
For more information, visit: Health and Wellness Centre.
(http://www.standardlife.ca/en/employer/insurance/health_wellness.html)

About Standard Life
Standard Life plc is a leading long-term savings and investment company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. Standard Life has around six million customers worldwide and operates in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America and Asia, and globally with Standard Life Investments Ltd.

In Canada, Standard Life has been doing business for 180 years. It operates under Standard Life Financial Inc., which wholly owns The Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada and Standard Life Mutual Funds Ltd. It is Standard Life plc’s largest operation outside the UK with about 2,000 employees. It provides long-term savings, investment and insurance solutions to more than 1.4 million Canadians, including group retirement and insurance plan members.

As of December 31, 2012, Standard Life plc had $353 billion in assets under administration, including $45 billion in Canada through Standard Life Financial.