General Information
The Joint Facilities Benefits Trust (JFBT) is an Employee Life & Health Trust (ELHT) that was established April 1, 2017 to provide employee benefits to members of the Facilities Bargaining Association of BC and their dependents.
The JFBT is established based on a Trust Agreement. The JFBT is governed by a jointly-trusteed Board of Trustees with equal representation by unions and employers participating in the JFBT. The Trustees have a fiduciary responsibility to act for the benefit of JFBT and its beneficiaries (also called plan members). The Trustees administer the JFBT Plan which provides the benefits. The Trust receives negotiated funding from employers and some contributions from plan members, which it holds in the Trust Fund for the purpose of providing group health benefits to eligible plan members and their eligible dependents.
The Trustees work to ensure that the Plan is administered fairly, equitably, effectively and in a cost-efficient manner.
The JFBT Plan replaced the Healthcare Benefit Trust (HBT) Plan effective April 1, 2017. Employees who submitted a Long Term Disability claim for a disability that occurred prior to that date will remain with HBT. Employees who are disabled on or after that date are covered by the JFBT Plan.
HBT acts as the third party administrator on behalf of the JFBT, providing services to the Trust and acting under the direction of the Trustees to carry out the tasks of administering the benefit plan and liaising with the claims paying agents and insurers on behalf of the Board, as well as other responsibilities including financial accounting and liaison with the auditors.
The claims paying agents adjudicate and pay eligible claims:
- Canada Life – Long Term Disability
- Pacific Blue Cross – Dental and Extended Health
The Group Life and Accidental Death & Disability insurer is Canada Life.
The benefits provided by the JFBT are:
- Extended Health
- Dental
- Group Life Insurance
- Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance
- Long Term Disability (LTD)
The Joint Facilities Benefits Trust is a trust that is exclusively dedicated to providing certain employee benefits and services related to those benefits. The Trust is not an insurance company and the benefits it provides are not insured by an insurance company.
The Trust is not subject to regulation under the British Columbia Financial Institutions Act.