One of the quiet assumptions behind workplace benefits is that the worker and the employer fit a conventional employment relationship. Ontario's Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan is pushing on that assumption. HOOPP announced on October 2 that self employed nurse practitioners, registered nurses, registered practical nurses and midwives who are not already in the Plan can join both as members and as participating employers. The change is specific to HOOPP and Ontario healthcare. It is not a national pension rule and it does not make pension participation automatic for self employed workers generally. But it is a useful workforce development because it connects retirement security with a labour market in which careers increasingly move across different employment arrangements. HOOPP says it now has more than half a million members and more than 870 participating employers. It also notes that part time, contract and casual employees working for a HOOPP employer can join the Plan. The new self employed pathway extends that flexibility further.
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