LTB 131/2017 – BT Flexible Benefits

No. 131/2017 Ref: DJ/ML Date: 2 March 2017

TO ALL BRANCHES WITH MEMBERS IN BT

Dear Colleague

BT Flexible Benefits

The Personnel Team met BT on Monday 13th February 2017 when a presentation was given on the company’s intention to provide flexible benefits for all employees. These benefits were not negotiated or agreed by the Union.

The new scheme will replace the existing Choices’ scheme that applies to Reward Framework grades and Benefit Bundles’ that apply presently to EE employees; the scheme will cover around 50,000 employees.

The scheme will open at the beginning of March this year where employees will have a two week window to choose the benefits on offer. Initially the flexible benefits offer was trialled in Plusnet.

There is reference within the documentation to the buying of extra annual leave however, this will not be open to members in Openreach. The team pointed out that the benefits were intended for everyone and it would seem that the company can pick and choose who receives them. The Union believes this is an own goal in the company’s efforts to encourage engagement from its employees.

As for the benefits, Branches may wish to point out that the Union has its own benefits package a number of them better than the ones on offer from BT. I have copied the link for Branches and members to compare. http://www.cwu.org/departments-services/benefits/

Attached to this LTB are the slides presented to the Personnel Team. Also below is a set of questions and answers.

Question:

Health insurance – do previous/current health conditions affect the price? Do any health conditions affect eligibility?

AND Is there a qualifying period/any restrictions for any of the benefits ie sign up and then have to wait before use?

Answer:

Voluntary PMI Please note:

  • There are some conditions and treatments that AXA PPP healthcare’s plans do not cover. Please refer to the plan handbooks for more information.
  • These healthcare plans are designed to cover necessary treatment of new medical conditions that arise after you join. Any terms which apply to treatment of medical conditions which you had before you joined will be confirmed on your membership certificate.
  • The mandatory excess on each of these policies is £100.

Moratorium underwriting: Any medical conditions, symptoms and check-ups you’ve had in the last 5 years, and in some cases certain specified conditions, will be excluded from cover for the first two years. As long as you are completely free of any form of treatment or advice (including medication) for a consecutive two year period once you join, we will cover it for you in the future subject to the terms of the plan.

Voluntary Dental

Question: What if I have pre-planned treatment?

Answer: Unum Dental accept all pre-existing conditions (except mouth cancer), so as long as you wait for your insurance to start before starting the course of treatment, you will be able to make a claim.

Healthcare cash plan AXA

12 months qualifying period for Childbirth and Psychiatric in patient treatment (max of 21 days benefit)

Question:

Buying holiday in Consumer – can LM actually and realistically approve buying of leave when they don’t approve the taking of it?

Answer:

The company has discussed this with the resourcing lead for Customer Care and raised the issue of a possible disconnect here. The potential of this has been recognised and they will consider what comms are required on this to ensure it is successful.

Any enquiries from Branches regarding this LTB should be referred to my office in the first instance.

Yours sincerely

Dave Jukes
Assistant Secretary