Thursday 19 January 2023

Unitec’s Income Protection and Life Insurance plans: Consultation

Kia ora koutou

Many of our permanent staff are currently covered by Unitec’s Income Protection and Life Insurance plans. 

With our move to Te Pūkenga and the complexities this brings to policy ownership, along with our financial situation, we are considering discontinuing our staff insurance plans.

I understand that having the insurance plans in place has provided reassurance for many of our kaimahi (staff); I'm sorry to share this news with you at the start of our new year.

We are consulting with you on the withdrawal of our Income Protection and Life Insurance plans. We are proposing the following:

• Effective from 31 March 2023, Unitec’s Income Protection and Life Insurance plans will no longer continue. 

We welcome your feedback and are particularly interested to hear any alternative ideas you may have.

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.

Following discussions with our broker and the insurers, they unfortunately advised the cost of premiums would increase in this situation.

Seeking your feedback

Please share your thoughts on the proposal:

• Effective from 31 March 2023, our Income Protection and Life Insurance plans will no longer continue. 

Click here to send your feedback, by 4pm Thursday 10 February 2023.

Your valuable feedback will be considered and taken into account to help guide our approach.

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

I appreciate these are challenging times and for some of you, this information may cause some anxiety.  We really appreciate your feedback and are open to alternative ideas that may come from the comments you share with us.

If you are feeling unsure or anxious about anything in this email, please reach out to your manager, or access the support available to you.

Scroll down for the FAQs, which may provide further clarity.

Ngā mihi

Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga
Executive Director – Unitec and MIT

FAQs

1. What do the current policies cover?
   A summary of the policies is on Te Aka, read it here.
    
2. 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.
    
3. 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.
    
4. 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.
    
5. 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.
    
6. 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.
    
7. 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.