December 2023 (a little late...): Holiday Greeting, HSE Updates, Health Spending Account Reminder, 2024 Tax Forms & More!
Posted on Dec 27, 2023
Holiday Wishes for Staff of Heartland Housing Foundation
As we bring 2023 to a close, I wanted to thank everyone at Heartland Housing Foundation for being part of this important team. The Board of Directors and myself are so grateful for all of the hard work you put in every day toward making a difference in the lives of each and every resident and tenant that calls our communities home. We hope that you have enjoyed celebrating the holiday season with our residents in some way either at a dinner party, decorating a Christmas tree or singing carols together.
Wishing everyone a happy holiday season together with family and friends and here's to a wonderful and exciting year ahead of us in 2024!
Nancy Simmonds, CEO
November’s Employee Recognition Program Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the Novembers Employee Rewards and Recognition Program.
Dr. Turner Lodge - Nominee: Danielle Battistella
Clover Bar Lodge - Nominee: Heather Brown
Silver Birch Place - Nominee: Helen Dantic
Coordinated Services - Nominee: Katie Lyver
These people do extraordinary things each and every day. All it took was a special person to recognize that work and enter a ballot into a draw. The feedback and entries that we received in November told some remarkable stories. We can't wait to see the entries for December! Nominate your co-worker today!
HSE Program Updates
As you may already be aware, the HHF HSE Program has recently been updated. Here are some key changes that you should know about:
- Hazard and Incident reports are now 2-sided. Workers will now fill out the first page and a Supervisor or Manager will complete the second page.
- If you sustain an injury that requires first aid, you will need to provide the name of the first aider who assisted you on the incident report in the space provided.
- Staff who are assigned First Aid will be responsible for submitting a copy of their certificate to HSE once received from the training provider and ensure a copy of the certificate is available while at work (in your wallet or locker works).
- Hazard and Incident reporting and investigation procedures have been clarified to make it easier for site teams to find commonly asked information relating to hazard and incident management.
The new HSE manuals and the new incident/hazard reporting forms are now available on the Public drive and in the staff room, and everyone is encouraged to check them out.
Wishing you all a safe and healthy holiday season!
Submitting to Your Health Spending Account
Every employee that is eligible for Sunlife's Benefits Program has a $250 Health Care Spending Account, regardless of if you have opted out of Health or Dental coverage through Sunlife. The HCSA resets Jan 1 every year......Remember to use your full HCSA before the end of the year!
HCSA covers any expense that qualifies as a medical expense under the federal Income Tax Act. There is a list of eligible expenses in the benefits booklet or on the Plan Member Service website. In addition to health and dental care expenses, you can use your HCSA to pay deductibles, the percentage of your expenses you normally pay and any amounts over your benefit plan's maximum.
Making a Claim
There are two ways to submit HSA Claims: Online or by Mail.
Online
Sign-in to our Plan Members Services Website. Click ‘Submit a Claim’ and the easy-to-follow directions will help guide you through the process. From the site, you can link to a list of the types of expenses eligible under your HCSA. The system will process your claim and let you know if the expense is covered and, if so, the amount and details of your claim payment.
Not all types of HCSA expenses can be submitted online. You’ll be asked to select your expense from a drop-down list. If you don’t see your expense on the list, you’ll need to submit a paper claim. Also, HCSA claims over $1000 can’t be submitted online.
By Mail
You can also submit Health Spending Account claims by mail. Simply complete a combined Extended Health Care. HSA or Dental/HAS claim form. Completed the HAS section and we’ll process the claim as you have directed, using your HCSA to process all or part of your claim.
REMEMBER to include original receipts when you submit your claim. You have until February 29, 2024 to submit 2023 claims."
January 1st Statutory Holiday
January 1st is the New Year's Day Statutory Holiday! If you are scheduled to work and you work you will receive general holiday pay (Average daily wage + time and a half (1.5x) for each hour worked on January 1). If you are not scheduled to work..... HAPPY NEW YEARS!!
** For more information on our General Holiday Policy, please refer to the Human Resources Policies and Procedures Manual, the policy is 3.11 General Holidays **
2024 Tax Forms
Each year the government (federal and provincial) releases an updated tax form showing the current basic personal amount. For 2023, the Federal Basic amount is $15,000 and the Alberta Basic amount is $21,003. If you have previously filled out a tax form in which you claimed the basic personal amount and you want to continue to have the basic personal amount for the upcoming 2024 year, no action is required. If you claimed an amount that is not the basic personal amount, your situation has changed, or you want to update your tax forms, you will need to fill out a new 2024 Alberta and Federal Tax form. You can request these from your manager and once completed, hand them back to your manager who will forward them to payroll for updating. Alternatively, you can update your tax forms directly on Dayforce, by logging in and selecting the ‘Forms’ tab under the profile option and you will find them listed as Tax Forms. Dayforce will provide the updated 2024 tax forms on or before Jan 1, 2024, for employees to complete.