Legal & General has renewed its partnership with EAP provider, Health Assured.

As part of the renewal, L&G has enhanced its EAP offering through Health Assured for all its group protection policies to provide a range of resources and tools designed to help employees, with a view to manage the impact of absences from work on its customers.

The enhanced benefits include up to eight free, structured counselling sessions, in person, over the phone, via online video for group income protection policies.

A new and improved mobile app that gives employees access to resources is also now available.

In addition, the arrangement provides access to a collection of wellbeing resources via the app and online portal, including monthly webinars, health assessments, articles and factsheets.

Additional employer and employee benefits include a range of support and guidance on everyday issues, including bespoke line manager training and critical incident support.

Chris Ford, head of employer services, group protection at Legal & General, said: “As part of our ongoing commitment to helping employers improve workplace wellbeing, we’re pleased to have renewed our partnership with Health Assured. We believe Health Assured’s expertise in providing EAP is the best in the market and their industry experience complements Legal & General’s wider group protection proposition extremely well, as we are both dedicated to providing employees with quality support, when they need it most.

“Life is full of challenges and through the enhanced features of our EAP we are making it even easier for employees to have access to expert help and facilitate their return to work more quickly. We look forward to working with Health Assured and providing one of the most comprehensive EAP services on the market.”

David Price, CEO at Health Assured, added: “We’re delighted to renew our partnership with Legal & General. Having worked together since 2015, we’re confident that our services strengthen Legal & General’s group protection offering by providing supportive, early intervention methods for those who need it.

“We’re proud of the work we have achieved through our partnership, including our involvement on the mental health awareness campaign, Not A Red Card, as well as delivering positive outcomes for businesses and their employees through our 24/7 confidential helpline and counselling support services. We’re excited to continue working with Legal & General to support businesses, manage absence rates, increase staff retention and help in the duty of care for employees.”