“Employee protection is an integral part of AXA's DNA"

You seem personally concerned by the subject of health and well-being. Why such a commitment?

Having worked in the healthcare sector for 10 years, I'm very familiar with the problems and concerns of patients and their families. I've shared their anxieties about diagnoses, their long waits to find out how much their medical expenses will be covered, and their distress when their families are hit hard by illness. I’ve been in the situation of being a caregiver to a family member and had to experience the anxiety of coping with that personal circumstance and the challenges of a career.

Why is AXA actively involved in health and well-being topics?

Prevention and protection are part of AXA's DNA and in the core of our business through the services and products we offer to our customers. We know that taking care of the health and well-being of our employees is key for the sustainability of the company. AXA has a strong focus on health and protection, caring for our customers and our employees. As Global HRD of a worldwide leader in insurance, with my teams, we have seen and worked extensively on the data that shows how employee health and well-being is core to the company’s sustainability and how some health issues (mental health and cancer to name a few) are increasing.

What solutions has the Group already deployed locally?

In 2020, we decided to launch a global health and well-being program branded ‘Healthy You’, with the objective to cover all employees across the 51 countries by the end of 2023, ensuring that all our employees would have access to health and well-being services to improve prevention, access to care and support. Among those services we can find for example in-person medical check-ups for employees over 40 years old and a financial support with a minimum coverage of 75% of cancer-related medical expenses for all employees. Since 2022, more than 34,000 in-person medical check-ups have been offered to AXA employees over the age of 40.

Domestic and sexual violence is also a serious issue in our society. How can a company such as AXA support the victims of this kind of violence?

Across their lifetime, 1 in 3 women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner – a number that has sadly remained unchanged over the past decade. Since 2021, AXA Spain has a program to support employees suffering from domestic violence and in France, the program Elle’s Angels – created in 2014 by our business unit Juridica, provides legal support to women suffering from violence. Those experiences have increased our conviction that as a corporate citizen and employer we have a key role to play, to support the women and men who suffer from domestic and sexual violence. Our ‘We Care’ program will then now allow to have a global stand on this topic to make sure that all our employees impacted by this issue, wherever they are based in the world, can feel supported and accompanied by AXA.

Our ‘We Care’ program includes:

• 5 days fully paid leave per calendar year enabling each AXA employee in need to take time to care for an immediate family member who needs eldercare or care due to a serious health condition or disability. Statistics show that in our lives, 30% of us are or will be in a caregiving situation.
• A new policy to support all our employees facing domestic, intra-familial or sexual violence. Convinced that employers have a role to play, we have decided to go beyond, and make sure that those impacted can reach a trained AXA contact person to be supported and signposted towards specialist support services and psychological assistance. Employees will also be able to benefit from flexible work arrangements, and 5 days fully paid leave.
• Alongside the existing 16 weeks fully paid parent leave for the primary parent, we plan to double the duration of the fully paid co-parent leave from 4 to 8 weeks for a birth or adoption.
• Additional fully paid leave and flexible working arrangements to support employees undertaking fertility treatment (5 days for employees receiving and recovering from in-vitro fertilization and 2 days for spouses and partners), or in the case of pregnancy loss (5 days fully paid leave for pregnant employees impacted or 16 weeks in the case of a ‘still birth’ and 2 days for spouses and partners).
• Our existing ‘Healthy You’ program, already including many services such as an in-person medical check-up for employees over 40 and a digital one for all every two years, teleconsultation services, psychological assistance and a financial coverage of 75% of cancer-related medical expenses for all employees. With ‘We Care’, this Program is enhanced to include flexible working arrangements, office support equipment and awareness campaigns for employees experiencing menstrual health conditions, menopause, or andropause.

Can you tell us more about AXA's ambitions in this regard?

Our commitment to all our employees worldwide is growing stronger, to ensure that everyone, wherever they are, is protected and supported at every stage of their lives. In the face of life's complexities, ‘We Care’ gives employees and their loved ones the means to take care of their health and look at the future with optimism.