Frequently Asked Questions

Need some direction with your benefits? We are here to help.

Have Questions? We Have Answers.

We understand that enrolling in your benefits can come with some questions. Below are FAQs that can help.

Enrollment/Workday Questions

Yes. Once you complete your onboarding in Workday the new hire benefit event will be sent to you to complete. This must be completed within 30 days of your start date.

Your benefits will be defaulted to the following options: 

  • Option 3 for Medical/Dental/Drug 
  • Option 1 for Long-Term Disability
  • $25,000 life insurance 
  • Flex Credits will be deposited into your health care spending account

Login at workday.gfs.com. You can access the open enrollment guide there and start your enrollment.

Canada Life Questions

Go to https://my.canadalife.com/sign-in and click register. You will need your plan number (57505) and your member ID (your employee number).  Don’t forget when you register to put in your banking information so that when you submit claims they will go directly into your account.

Login to https://my.canadalife.com/sign-in  or use the groupnet app.  Watch this video to see how to submit your claims.

Under the Gordon Food Service Flexible Benefits Plan, your children (natural, adopted or stepchildren) are eligible to be covered if they are unmarried, not in a common-law relationship, are financially dependent on you, and are:

  • Under the age of 21, or
  • Under the age of 26 if they are in full-time attendance at a recognized educational institute, or
  • Any age if they became totally disabled before the age of 21 or age 26 if they were a student.

You can only add/remove a dependent within 30 days of a life event (marriage, birth of a child, divorce etc) or during open enrollment. The instructions on how to do this can be found in the Workday training hub.

Instructions on how to do this can be found in the Workday training hub.

You can call Canada Life at 1-800-957-9777 or you can email them through the groupnet app by clicking “more”, then selecting the “contact us” option.  You can then choose the topic you want to discuss and type your message.

Flex Credit Questions

Health Care Spending Account – You have two full calendar years to use these credits to pay for your out-of-pocket medical, prescription drug, and dental expenses. This account enables you to use tax-free flex credits to pay for many medical and dental expenses that are not paid elsewhere.  Check the Detailed Benefit Guide for details. 

Personal Wellness Account – The Personal Wellness Account is another way to use your flex credits. You may deposit flex credits into this account and be reimbursed for a variety of personal wellness expenses. Flex credits deposited in this account are taxable in the year they are deposited. There is no time limit for using the money in this account. Check the Detailed Benefit Guide for a complete description of eligible expenses.

More Detailed Benefit Plan Information

Click this link to see our Detailed Benefit Guide for complete details on all your Gordon Food Service benefits.

Travel Assistance

  • A sudden, unexpected injury
  • A sudden, unexpected illness or acute episode of disease that couldn’t have been reasonably expected based on the person’s prior medical condition
  • Costs aren’t covered for elective services or a medical condition that needs ongoing care.

When you return home, complete the out-of-country claim form that’s available here

Follow the submission instructions on the form. If you have questions about your claim, call the travel
assistance provider:

  • Canada or US: 1-855-222-4051 (toll-free)
  • All other countries: 1-204-946-2577 (collect)

If you have questions about your coverage, call Canada Life at 1-800-957-9777 and select the option to speak
with the out-of-country claims department. A TTY line is available for the deaf or hard of hearing by dialing 711.

If your province has out-of-country coverage, Canada Life pays your provincial health care plan’s share of the claim for them. Canada Life also reimburses you on the amount left over that’s covered by your benefits plan. Before you travel, check your provincial plan to see if out-of-country medical expenses are covered. Many provincial plans have time limits on submitting claims. These limits apply to your Canada Life claims also. If your provincial plan refuses payment, you may be
asked to reimburse Canada Life for any amount already paid on its behalf.

The hospital will call the travel assistance provider, who then contacts Canada Life to verify coverage.
You’re responsible for arranging payment for all hospital and doctor bills when you’re discharged. In some
cases, hospitals allow you to assign your insurance benefits in place of full payment. Your benefits card
isn’t a credit card. It doesn’t provide payment.

No, this is separate coverage that you’d have to buy on your own.

Call the number of the location you’re in. Service is available 24 hours a day, every day.

Canada or U.S.
1-855-222-4051 (toll-free)

All other countries
1-204-946-2577 (collect)

These numbers are also on the back of your benefits card and on canadalife.com.

Tutoring - Bright Horizons

GFS employees who are eligible to use the Bright Horizons backup care benefit can use the service to reserve tutors.  Over 3,000 subjects are available to employees and their children.

Learn more about this tutoring option here: https://bh.social/TutoringFamily

Tutoring is available for adult learners and dependents aged 5+.

Tutoring providers are selected based on their quality, learning platform, and breadth of topics. Varsity Tutors® and Sylvan Learning are two nationally recognized tutoring providers and our current partners for this program. Sylvan focuses on the K-12 learners and Varsity Tutors focuses on all ages and levels. At this time, tutoring for 18+ age groups is available only through Varsity Tutors.

Tutoring can assist you and your children and teens with reading, math, and more than 3,000 other subjects. Tutoring for learners 17+ also includes the following popular subjects:

  • College Learning: Calculus, Chemistry, Statistics, Accounting, and Computer Science
  • Graduate School Entrance Exams: MCAT, LSAT, and GMAT
  • Adult Learning: Spanish, Microsoft Excel, Public Speaking, ESL, Chess
  • Professional Certifications: NCLEX, PRAXIS, SIE, CPA, Real Estate License
  • Technical: Autocad, Python, PMP, Java, Adobe Illustrator

You will receive 4 hours of tutoring for each back-up care reservation.

For every Back-Up Care™ reservation that you make, you are entitled to schedule 4 hours of tutoring.  Your copay is $15 for every 4 hours of tutoring.  The hours you schedule for tutoring are deducted from the total number of 10 days of back-up care you are allowed each year.

Find more frequently asked questions about tutoring here.

Profit Sharing Contribution Questions

All part-time and full-time employees of the following Gordon Food Service – Canada Divisions:  Atlantic, British Columbia, Canada National, Montreal, Ontario, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec, and Specialty Companies: Fresh Start East, Fresh Start West, Intercity Packers, JG-Rive, Liberio, Montcalm Meats, Trimen, and United.

You are eligible to receive a Profit Sharing Contribution if you are employed on Dec. 29, 2023, and you were hired by your division on or before July 29, 2023.  If you had an approved leave of absence during this time or are on an approved leave of absence and expected to return to work, you are also eligible.

No.  Part-time employees receive 50% of the Profit Sharing Contribution that a full-time employee with the same length of service would receive.  The criterion to determine the amount of profit sharing an employee will receive is determined by his/her length of service on Oct. 28, 2023.

Contract employees are eligible for profit sharing for fiscal year ending Oct. 28, 2023, assuming they completed the length-of-service requirement.

Eligible employees will be sent a Profit Sharing Contribution election form on or about Dec. 11, 2023, either through company mail or e-mail.  This form gives you the option to receive your profit sharing in cash or have it deposited into your Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (DPSP) account within the Retirement Program. If you choose to deposit to your DPSP account, you will receive an additional 25% in Profit Sharing Plus dollars. Forms should be returned to HR Departments by Dec. 29, 2023, otherwise eligible employees will have the contribution (and Profit Sharing Plus dollars) automatically deposited into their DPSP account.

The Profit Sharing Contribution for employees who do not return a form will be automatically deposited into a DPSP account at Manulife on their behalf.  If you have not enrolled at Manulife, an account will be opened for you and the Profit Sharing Contribution will be invested in a Target Date fund closest to the date you turn 65.

  •  You will save today for a more comfortable tomorrow.  Anytime you can deposit more money into your retirement account, you are adding to the funds that you will have when you retire.  The more you save, the more you will have in your account to “work for you” by generating income through potential investment earnings. 
  • You will take advantage of the Profit Sharing Plus money.  By choosing to deposit your Profit Sharing Contribution in your DPSP account, you will receive an additional 25% of the contribution in Profit Sharing Plus.
  • Taxes! Taxes! Taxes! By depositing your Profit Sharing Contribution and Profit Sharing Plus in your DPSP, you are deferring the income tax on that money until you draw it out at retirement.

The amount of the Profit Sharing Contribution will be announced at your divisional annual celebration.

Profit sharing will be distributed before the end of January 2024.

Learning + Development Questions

We have purchased a library of training classes (elearning, virtual and live classroom) from our outside vendor partner, Development Dimensions International (DDI). This means blended learning opportunities will be offered in each competency area.

With supervisor approval, all training opportunities are offered to all employees, regardless of their roles.

Some of the courses have been identified as critical for skill development based on your role. Employees will find courses available on Workday Learning. People Leaders & Leaders of Leaders will be assigned to courses in Workday automatically then they will need to register for a date/time in the assigned courses.

No topic is off limits!

Yes, employees can take advantage of the new training library. As always, employees must talk with their leaders prior to signing up for classes to create awareness and to ensure they are able to take the time away from work. This should be a part of ongoing development discussions. In addition, leaders would need to approve travel expenses that may be involved (if any).

Web-based and virtual training will not incur a cost. However, in-person training may incur travel and materials expenses.

As always, employees must talk with their leaders prior to signing up for classes to create awareness and to ensure they are able to take the time away from work. This should be a part of ongoing development discussions. In addition, leaders would need to approve any travel expenses that may be involved (if any).

We provide all employees with a comprehensive development guide that serves as a roadmap to access a wide range of learning resources and opportunities.

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