Assistance and prevention

Swiss Re sets high standards in terms of caring for the physical and mental wellbeing of its employees. Our services not only provide support to our employees, they also help to preserve valuable skills and know-how.

We regularly review and enhance our prevention and support services. Our goal is to help employees take a constructive approach to their own health, while improving and retaining their ability to perform. This also supports their sense of wellbeing and ability to balance work and family life.

Examples of prevention activities carried out in 2014 include a Lunch & Learn session in Switzerland dedicated to early stress detection and how to cope with it. We also offer our employees individual self-assessments, accompanied by coaching sessions. Building on earlier health programmes in Zurich, we organised health management initiatives for our employees in Bangalore and Bratislava. In Munich we held a series of seminars focusing on mindfulness in stressful situations.

In the UK, we introduced the “Healthy Me” initiative, which is designed to support and encourage our employees’ wellbeing by focusing both on a healthy body and a healthy mind. In the US, we held health fairs in Armonk and Kansas City and offered biometric screenings and flu shot events.

To accommodate the needs of working parents, we have a number of initiatives in place. Last year, 143 children in Switzerland attended our one-week vacation programmes during the spring and summer school holidays, enabling their parents to continue working. We also offer a number of reserved places at day care centres in and around Zurich. Furthermore, our external childcare provider helps parents find emergency nannies and gives guidance in all questions related to childcare as well as for adult and elder care.

As part of the Parents@Swiss Re initiative, which was launched in 2012 to provide important information on pregnancy and parenthood, we created a brochure and an online support page for employees in Munich and Bratislava. Both our Bangalore and Bratislava locations organised local childcare events to support employees with children. Munich held a two-week summer vacation programme and organised childcare support for various public holidays in November to assist working parents.

In the UK, a well-established range of family services is available to meet the typical challenges faced by working parents and carers. Services include offering employees a certain number of emergency childcare sessions or school holiday cover, as well as providing back-up adult and elder care.