Assignment task: Ontario hospital executives are criticized for their high pay and lucrative benefits. The benefits include car allowances, free parking spots, and up to six weeks of paid vacation; they also receive a huge annual salary, up to $100,000 per year in pension. This type of executive compensation is a hot topic of debate.
Andrea Horwath, leader of the NDP in Ontario, believes it is time to start being more careful with taxpayers' money, suggesting that hospital CEO salaries should not be more than $418,000. This is twice what Ontario's premier makes.
Case in point: In 2014, the President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences (six hospitals in Hamilton and South Central Ontario) Dr. Robert MacIsaac earned $755,715. In addition, MacIsaac gets a benefits package including a pension, life insurance, and a spending account. He is also entitled to variable compensation to a maximum of 20 percent of his annual base salary with stipulated performance factors.
Right behind Rob MacIsaac is William Reichman, president and CEO of Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, who received $748,562 in 2014. In addition, he has 26 percent of his base salary as an incentive. He also gets an annual car allowance of $14,000 and a pension top-up of $50,000.
The Ontario healthcare sector has been reeling under financial pressure, with nurses being let go, emergency wards being closed, and continuing longer wait times in the province's emergency rooms.
Question: To minimize the pay gap, what benefit packages you can suggest for the nurses working in hospitals of Ontario?