Google Financially Supports Families of Deceased Googlers

Google's Chief People Officer recently revealed to Forbes that the company last year announced death benefits for staff.

Google is known for treating its employees well and it seems the company's perks now include taking care of employees' families. Forbes reports that Google recently announced death benefits that would see the family of an employee taken care of in the event of that employee's death.

During a discussion on child and healthcare benefits at Google, Chief People Officer Laszlo Bock told Forbes that the company had just last year announced a new perk for staff. If you pass away while employed by Google, your spouse will get 50 percent of your salary for a decade. Google will also give your children a $1,000 monthly payment until they reach 19 (longer if they are a full-time student), and all stocks will be vested immediately. 

"One of the things we realized recently was that one of the harshest but most reliable facts of life is that at some point most of us will be confronted with the death of our partners," Bock told Forbes. "And it's a horrible, difficult time no matter what, and every time we went through this as a company we tried to find ways to help the surviving spouse of the Googler who'd passed away."

This perk applies to all U.S. Google employees and, according to Forbes, has no tenure requirement for eligibility. While these kinds of perks can be seen as a play to attract or retain talent in an increasingly competitive market, Bock says that isn't Google's take on the situation. As far as he's concerned, Google is doing it because it's "the right thing to do." "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," he said.

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