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The Worst Perk at Google

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Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#21

Post by gretch »

I work at Google

I like that this is taken care of for me and that I don't have to spend my personal time trying to research a bunch of life insurance options and figure out what works and what doesn't. I also love that there is some amount of collective bargaining being applied here instead of me making the purchase as an individual. I'll gladly pay a $300/yr premium for that, and the ease of mind that my loves ones will have some advocate inside Google rather than having to go toe-to-toe with the insurance companies themselves to get pay out.

I mean has anyone dealt with other forms of insurance? E.g. Car insurance or home owner insurance or health insurance. Getting these companies to actually pay you when the policy rightly kicks in is like pulling teeth. I wish Google did that for me too.

One time I filed a claim on my car getting broken into. They 'paid' me with a prepaid debit card that had a $300/day limit. Out fucking rageous

Insurance is pretty much a scam

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#22

Post by benmanns »

The first $50,000 of group term life insurance is not taxable, so the tax penalty here should be reduced by about 10% [1].

Second, either Google is getting shafted on their premiums (they may be) and over paying by more than 44% ($200/$450 from the article), or on average this is a net benefit to employees over the possibility of opting out. Consider employees with health problems that could never get term insurance on their own. The real story might just be that Google should find a better priced term life provider.

[1] https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-...

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#23

Post by Invictus0 »

yongjik wrote: post #17

> What it costs you > The tax cost paid by the employee = $200 (additional tax) > Google paid the insurer $450; without the policy, that cash could be directly paid to the employee = $350 (post-tax) > Total cost for the insurance: $550 Wait, isn't it like saying "The lunch is free, but if the employer didn't provide lunch they could give me $20 dollars per day instead!"?

It's worse than that, it's like saying the sandwich cost $20 but actually it only cost them $5 to make the sandwich and you can buy a sandwich down the road for $15.

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#24

Post by remotecar »

benmanns wrote: post #22

The first $50,000 of group term life insurance is not taxable, so the tax penalty here should be reduced by about 10% [1]. Second, either Google is getting shafted on their premiums (they may be) and over paying by more than 44% ($200/$450 from the article), or on average this is a net benefit to employees over the possibility of opting out. Consider employees with health problems that could never get term insurance…

I agree. Google should get a better price here, or drop the perk.

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#25

Post by orzig »

gretch wrote: post #21

I work at Google I like that this is taken care of for me and that I don't have to spend my personal time trying to research a bunch of life insurance options and figure out what works and what doesn't. I also love that there is some amount of collective bargaining being applied here instead of me making the purchase as an individual. I'll gladly pay a $300/yr premium for that, and the ease of mind that my loves ones…

Does Google help the family with detailed claim resolution in the event of an employee's death? I don't have evidence either way, but that seems more personal than I'd expect.

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#26

Post by namdnay »

This is completely standard in every big corporation Ive worked for, both in Europe and North America. I think it’s just a corporate flex: “when you’re with us, you’re covered”

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#28

Post by latchkey »

maxerickson wrote: post #11
latchkey wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be real, it isn't a perk, it is a marketable asset for insurance companies to make more money. A lot of dental insurance falls under a similar category. It is often more expensive to pay for the insurance than it is to pay out of pocket. But then you wonder about what happens if something really bad occurs? Well, a lot of the dental insurance policies (especially for smaller companies) have yearly maximum limit…

It's (very likely) cheaper for the company to offer a fixed benefit than it is to pay that amount directly as compensation. I certainly don't mind that people I work with and their families are getting dental care instead of me getting a modest annual raise.

A lot of small business dental plans cost the company nothing extra to offer to employees because the cost is passed onto the employee directly. It is an optional 'perk' that is offered by the insurance company, but it is almost worthless in value. A lot of employees don't do the math and just tack on the extra monthly fee. But, if you do the math on them, it often doesn't work out to opt into that perk, even in an emergency case.

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#29

Post by dekhn »

wferrell wrote: post #9
dekhn wrote: post #2

The perk also includes: 10 years of salary to your spouse, and monies also for your children. Googlers typically aren't going to microptimize expenses this small.

I think this is the real perk -- I remember in ~2008 that sadly, a googler's family had to take advantage of this when they passed. It stood out as the company really taking care of the team. I have no clue if they still do this today but it was certainly a wow moment.

back when google was great, my manager had to call a coworker's parents, who lived in Iran, and explain that their son had been badly injured in a parachute accident and was in the hospital, but that Google would be paying all his bills and we'd do the best to get him back on teh ground so he could eventually return to the office. (said employee left right after to be a VP at a bank. I thought that was a jerk move).

Re: The Worst Perk at Google

#30

Post by jldugger »

gretch wrote: post #21

I work at Google I like that this is taken care of for me and that I don't have to spend my personal time trying to research a bunch of life insurance options and figure out what works and what doesn't. I also love that there is some amount of collective bargaining being applied here instead of me making the purchase as an individual. I'll gladly pay a $300/yr premium for that, and the ease of mind that my loves ones…

> I like that this is taken care of for me and that I don't have to spend my personal time trying to research a bunch of life insurance options and figure out what works and what doesn't.

Doesn't Google accelerate RSUs upon death?

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