To help “globally-mobile” employees who are grieving over their dire circumstances – whether it is because of the death of a loved one, a divorce, a job termination, or due to a serious medical diagnosis, among many other situations – Empire Life Insurance Company is enhancing its Voyageur Global Benefits (VGB) life insurance plans to include a grief counselling service.
The new service offers professional counselling to expatriate employees abroad. A team of licensed counsellors can be accessed by plan members wherever they are in the world, all toll-free. Plan members can also choose to have face-to-face telephonic or video counselling sessions.
The enhancement also enables plan members to access resources and information on Empire Life’s dedicated grief counselling website and mobile application. Other resources are available for those with financial or legal needs related to their worrisome situation.
"We're very pleased to bring this timely and convenient service to our globally-mobile customers," said Empire Life vice president of group product and marketing Vanessa Lycos. “Working abroad comes with its own set of stressors. When a difficult personal situation arises, it's reassuring to know that help is just a phone call away—any time of the day or night."
"This new service will offer globally-mobile employees support provided by qualified consultants to be accessed from any mobile device in multiple languages," added VGB director Nancy Brown.
Empire Life’s VGB life insurance plans are administered by MetLife Worldwide Benefits.
Brown cited MetLife’s recent Employee Benefits Trends Study, which found that only half of globally-mobile employees feel that their employers offer benefits specifically tailored to their needs.
“We believe this new service will help close the gap,” the director said.
