Toronto, ON– Manulife today announced that it will be providing HR Support Services to Manulife Group Benefits clients with two to 399 employees – at no additional cost.  Eligible employers will have access to the information and advice they need to manage the talent in their organizations, develop employees and help remain compliant with industry and government regulations.  Currently available to Manulife Group Benefits clients in British Columbia and Alberta, Manulife’s HR Support Services will be made available across Canada in the second quarter of 2016.

“Small business owners told us that they need help dealing with human resources-related issues.  In many cases, the owner is busy running the company and simply doesn’t have time to develop the HR expertise that is so important today,” said Philippe Toupin, Vice President, Small Business Solutions, Manulife.  “We understand the need to focus their energy on building their businesses and we want to support them.”

HR Support Services, offered through HRdownloads™, is an innovative custom solution that provides employers with easy access to trusted, knowledgeable and professional human resources expertise.  Manulife Group Benefits customers will have one-on-one telephone support with senior human resource (HR) advisors, online training and survey solutions and a comprehensive online library and resource centre.

“We are proud that we can bring HR best practices and efficiencies to even more workplaces in Canada,” said Anthony Boyle, President & CEO, HRdownloads™.  “HRdownloads™ has a reputation for providing cost-effective and time-saving HR solutions with exceptional customer service.  We will continue to invest more in innovation and expand the suite of products we offer to all HRdownloads™ clients.”

John Robinson, CFO of Telebyte Communications Inc. in Calgary, is a Manulife and HRdownloads customer.  “The greatest value to our organization was the timely, professional advice from the Senior HR Advisors whenever we were facing any hiccups with respect to our staff.” Mr. Robinson says, “This advice was always offered in a timely, supportive manner and the advisory team raised many issues and ideas that greatly assisted our company in developing risk mitigation strategies with respect to the approach we took in addressing people problems.”

About HRdownloads
HRdownloads was founded in 2005 in London, Ontario, and since that time has become a leader in providing results-driven human resources solutions used by business owners, managers and HR professionals. Today, HRdownloads provides thousands of Canadian organizations with cost-effective and time-saving documentation, live HR support by senior HR advisors, online surveys and online training solutions to transform the efficiency of HR processes.

About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group providing forward-thinking solutions to help people with their big financial decisions.  We operate as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife elsewhere.  We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions.  At the end of 2014, we had 28,000 employees, 58,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving 20 million customers.  At the end of September 2015, we had $888 billion (US$663 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made more than $23 billion in benefits, interest and other payments to our customers.  Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years.  With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong.  Follow Manulife on Twitter @ManulifeNews or visit www.manulife.com or www.johnhancock.com.

Media Contact:
Rebecca Freiburger
Rebecca_Freiburger@Manulife.com
Media Relations
(519) 503-6604

Source Manulife Financial Corporation: http://www.manulife.com/public/news/detail/0,,lang=en&artId=148592&navId=630002,00.html