Employers: Why join HOOPP?
Employers

Why Join HOOPP?

Excellent Plan features

HOOPP is tailored to the needs of the healthcare community. Its members value the range and quality of HOOPP’s features, including:

  • Early retirement benefits – We offer early retirement benefits that, along with HOOPP’s partial inflation protection, can help make early retirement a realistic possibility. For example, once a member is vested, he or she can retire at age 60 with no reduction in earned pension. If a member retires while aged 55 to 64, he or she will receive a bridge benefit – a supplemental payment that is payable until age 65, when government pensions usually begin.

  • Partial inflation protection – Members are retiring earlier and living longer, which gives inflation more time to erode the buying power of their retirement income. With this in mind, HOOPP provides partial inflation protection – a valuable benefit designed to limit inflation’s impact over the long term.

  • Disability benefits – A member who submits medical evidence (approved by HOOPP) that shows he or she is disabled (as defined by HOOPP) can qualify for either free accrual (contributory service for which neither member nor employer contributions are required) or – if the member is totally and permanently disabled – the option of an immediate pension based on accrued contributory service.

  • Survivor benefits – When a retired HOOPP member dies, his or her surviving qualifying spouse will automatically receive 60 per cent of the retired HOOPP member’s basic lifetime pension for the rest of his or her life. At the time of retirement, members can elect to increase the level for a qualifying spouse to 80 or 100 per cent, subject to a reduction in the member’s pension. Members without a qualifying spouse are also guaranteed a pension for life. If they die before receiving a monthly pension for 15 years (180 payments), their primary “non-spouse” beneficiary will receive monthly payments for the balance of the 180-month period. If the beneficiary also dies before 180 payments have been made, the value of the remaining payments will be paid to the beneficiary’s estate, as a lump sum.

    Pensioners who have a new spouse after retirement may be able to provide the new spouse with a survivor pension, at the member’s expense, provided certain conditions are met.

  • Ability to increase benefits by purchasing past service – All active members of HOOPP have the opportunity to increase their pensions by purchasing service for certain eligible periods in the past.

  • Transfers and portability –  Incoming members can often transfer benefits to HOOPP from their previous pension plan; members leaving the Plan can transfer their HOOPP benefits to other pension plans as long as the other plan accepts the transfer. Similarly, a member who is looking for work at another HOOPP employer can – if she finds such work within six months of leaving her previous HOOPP job – elect to have her HOOPP pension continue with her new employer.

Excellent service

HOOPP’s features are important. However, just as important are the relationships HOOPP builds and maintains with its clients. We strive to make the employer’s job as easy as possible, by:

  • providing on-site administrative training for benefits staff
  • making HOOPP presentations to employees
  • supporting employers and Plan members with a comprehensive communications program
  • providing access to a client services team

Other benefits

  • Voluntary employer participation – Employer participation in HOOPP is voluntary. Although many collective agreements require hospitals to participate in HOOPP, provincial law does not. Continuing growth in HOOPP indicates our high level of customer satisfaction.

  • Board of Trustees – HOOPP is governed by a Board of Trustees made up of 16 voting members. Eight trustees are appointed by the Ontario Hospital Association, and two are appointed by each of these four unions – the Ontario Nurses’ Association, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union, and the Service Employees’ International Union. This ensures our Plan reflects the needs of all parties. HOOPP’s governance structure has been recognized across the country as a model for successful multi-employer pension plans.

  • Continuous improvement – We’re always looking for ways to improve our service to our clients, and to ensure HOOPP remains relevant, viable and affordable to our membership over the long term.