Few companies give their employees benefits as much and as good as Google does, but no one expects to get death benefits, do they? Well, apperantly, at Google, they’ve started handing out those as part of the deal.
So how does the perk work? Well, it benefits the surviving family, not the person who dies, if you thought they’ve somehow found a way to zombify or revive their deceased workers. No. Should a U.S. Googler pass away while under the employ of the 14-year old search giant, their surviving spouse or domestic partner will receive a check for 50% of their salary every year for the next decade.
The bigger surprise? No tenure is required, meaning that almost all 34,000 Google employees qualify for the ‘death benefit.’
That’s not all. In addition to the 10-year pay package, surviving spouses will see all stocks vested immediately and any children will receive a $1,000 monthly payment from the company until they reach the age of 19 (or 23 if the child is a full-time student).
The surprising thing about this Google perk is that it isn’t there to increase employee happiness, productivity and creativity, at least not directly. Providing these death-benefits, financially, is pretty much a no win from the company. But a Google big shot put it – Obviously there’s no benefit to Google, but it’s important to the company to help our families through this horrific if inevitable life event.
Sometimes, benefits and treating your workers well isn’t about what’s good for business. It’s about doing the right thing. When it comes down to it, it’s better to work for a company who cares about you than a company who doesn’t. And from a company standpoint, that makes it better to care than not to care.
