WorkLife joins forces with Unum to offer more affordable protection for SME workers

WorkLife, the employee benefits portal from online money manager OpenMoney, has partnered with leading UK group insurance provider Unum to add a range of health protection benefits to its online platform.

As part of the partnership, WorkLife customers will be able to offer their workforce Group Life Insurance, Dental plans and Critical illness cover at a competitive rate. The unique offering will allow businesses to put benefits in place quickly, get a fixed price in a matter of minutes with no medical questions or underwriting, and choose simple solutions from a range of set cover levels.

WorkLife’s 2020 Small Business Monitor found that health and insurance products were among the most sought-after benefits for SMEs, with 22% of employers wanting to offer them over the next six months*. Yet smaller businesses have historically struggled to offer group protection benefits owing to challenges surrounding cost and scale. Trusted by over 9,000 companies, Unum’s unique offering is designed for the needs of SMEs and offers comprehensive solutions for health, wellbeing and financial protection.

Rob Marshall, managing director of WorkLife, said: “Like us, Unum is dedicated to serving the SME market – this shared aim and understanding of the challenges faced by smaller businesses made them the perfect partner for us in the group protection space.

“At a time when many people’s salaries are having to stretch even further, benefits such as life, critical illness or dental cover can offer vital peace of mind when unexpected health concerns arise. The fact that Unum puts such focus on making these valuable, but seemingly complex, products easy to access and understand was hugely important to us, and we look forward to working with them on helping more SMEs provide a greater level of security to their workers as we move through this uncertain period.”

Glenn Thompson, Customer Solutions Director at Unum, agrees that this is a vital step in Unum’s efforts to support SMEs: “It’s more important than ever to make valuable employee benefits accessible to small businesses and partnering with WorkLife means we can do just that. Our simple benefits take out the complexity so employers can put in-demand benefits in place quickly – with little administration and no underwriting – which might have felt unattainable in the past.”

WorkLife launched earlier this year on a mission of empowering more small businesses to reward and support their employees just like those at larger firms. This latest move follows its partnership with forward-thinking pension provider Smart Pension in September, to make workplace pensions simpler and more efficient for SME employers and employees. 

The WorkLife platform is normally offered to companies at just £2 per employee per month, but has been made available to firms free of charge for the rest of 2020, to help firms who want to support employees but may be struggling to do so as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

It gives smaller companies and their workers access to the kind of benefits and discounts only usually available from big corporate organisations. In addition to free financial advice from OpenMoney and mental wellbeing guidance from Thrive, WorkLife has a range of benefits and discounts that could add up to hundreds of pounds worth of savings each year for employees.

These include shopping and restaurant discounts from Purecard and health and wellbeing deals via My Active Discounts. WorkLife also offers workers easy access to life insurance and critical illness cover from Anorak and household insurance from Uinsure. More benefits are to follow soon.

The WorkLife platform, which can be accessed via a smartphone, tablet or computer, is simple for employers to set up online, linking up with payroll so employees can see and keep track of all their benefits, savings and salary in one place. Employers can even add their own existing benefits and rewards.

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Press contacts

Helena Jones (MRM) – helena.jones@mrm-london.com / 07503 645 612

About WorkLife

WorkLife is a digital platform on a mission to make financial advice and employee benefits accessible and affordable to every UK business.

Powered by OpenMoney, it combines top of the range financial advice and market leading benefits with low cost and transparent fees, allowing SMEs to reward their employees with the same great perks as those traditionally enjoyed by workers at larger companies. The platform puts an emphasis on employee wellbeing, making sure they are covered in all the financial, mental and physical aspects of their life.

To help those firms hit hardest by the coronavirus crisis, WorkLife will be offered free of charge to SMEs throughout 2020. The normal cost is £2 per employee per month, with no additional setup fee.

*WorkLife’s Small Business Monitor is based on research carried out by 3Gem among 750 senior financial and HR decision makers in UK SME companies with 5 – 250 employees.