Course of Study Required for CEBS Designation

The CEBS curriculum is designed around three specialty areas--group benefits, retirement plans and compensation management:

Principles of Life, Health and Other Group Benefits - the concepts and principles to be considered in the development, implementation and management of life, health and other group benefits provided by employers and unions; group insurance fundamentals, general design issues, mathematics of insurance, the pricing process, underwriting and funding methods, administration, communication and ethics.

Applications of Life, Health and Other Group Benefits - specific applications of life, health and other group benefits programs provided by employers: life insurance, income replacement, health, dental, and work/life programs including employee assistance and wellness, financial planning and other financial benefits.

Pension Plans and Other Retirement Income Programs - employer-sponsored retirement programs; challenges facing individuals in preparing for retirement, the role and impact of employer-sponsored programs, the legislative environment in which they operate, the various types of programs available and the advantages and disadvantages of each; design considerations and issues relating to administration, communication, financial and investment management of plan assets for multi-employer plans and single employer plans.

Government-Sponsored Benefit Programs - the types of government-sponsored health, welfare and retirement income benefits available in Canada, their basic objectives and the principles on which they operate: Old Age Security, the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan, Workers' Compensation, Employment Insurance, health care benefits available from the government, as well as other benefits administered by Human Resources Development Canada, provincial and other agencies.

Compensation Concepts and Principles - policies that form the foundation of a compensation system and alternate techniques that can be used in paying employees; methods for decision making regarding pay level, pay mix and pay structures; pay-for-performance plans and research evidence concerning their effectiveness in motivating employees and achieving business objectives.

Strategic Human Resource Management and Total Compensation - the relationship between an organization's strategic planning and human resource management; global economic and workforce trends, competitiveness and the employment relationships; response of the human resource manager to a changing environment and new roles and ways of looking at traditional human resource functions and components of the total compensation system, their application to human resources management and their role in supporting overall organizational strategy. Copyright © International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans