Employee Benefits

Acacia Group Life Assurance

First Mutual Life’s Acacia Group Life Assurance (GLA) is a death in service benefit available to any enterprise that employs up to 50 people. This fantastic package allows smaller enterprises to cover employees against financial risks associated with death whilst still in service.
Each employee is covered for 24 times their monthly gross salary payable as a tax free lump sum should they pass away irrespective of the circumstances. In addition the Acacia GLA Scheme has a free funeral rider of 3 months gross salary (subject to review from time to time to cover immediate funeral needs.
This product provides life cover up to a free cover limit of $150 000 without the need for medical examinations. This limit may be reviewed from time to time. By virtue of its umbrella nature, the Acacia GLA Scheme accords an opportunity to enterprises who traditionally could not afford to run stand-alone schemes due to their size and cost.

Claim Requirements
In the event of death of an employee, First Mutual Life shall be notified and for claim settlement the following documents shall be submitted to the First Mutual Life Employee Benefits Division:

Notification of death form
Burial order obtained from the Registrar of births and deaths (In the case of Acacia GLA only to allow for processing of free funeral rider)
Original Death Certificate
Marriage Certificate / Affidavit of Customary law marriage(where applicable)
Birth certificates for all Children
Banking details of dependent(s) receiving benefit

Key Benefits to the Employees

Immediate cover of 24 months gross salary
Total Peace of mind and reassurance
Additional liveable income protects the family against sudden loss of income in the event of death of a breadwinner.
Benefits are not subject to income tax
Generous Free Cover Limits reducing the need for lengthly medical investigations
Additional funeral rider of 3 months gross salary
A lump sum benefit payable to the family to continue with life when breadwinner is no more

Key benefits to the Employer

The ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees
A positive work environment conducive for greater productivity and ultimately profitability
A good reputation as an employer of choice
Encouraging staff loyalty and demonstrating a genuine care for staff welfare
The employer incurs no extra budgetary expense (by way of paying and ad hoc death benefits from the account of the business)
Ease of administration
It provides instant financial assistance that will augment other benefits
Affordability- competitive premium rates

Claims Notification

Harare

Bulawayo

Autumn Gold Pension

Planning for Retirement
Retirement can be both exciting and demanding, bringing with it new challenges, experiences and uncertainties. Regardless of how successful one is in the workplace, there is a danger that this may not filter through the retirement years. Today’s retirees have far better health, a higher level of education, more responsibilities and several options of maintaining an active and productive lifestyle than before. The more fortunate retirees are those who through good planning, and risk taking succeed in making their retirement the best time of their lives.

The First Mutual Life Employee Benefits team offers exciting retirement solutions and as team FMHL we can all be part of the marketing apparatus for these products. This quarter we feature the Autumn Gold pension scheme which is targeted at small to medium enterprises.

Autumn Gold Pension Scheme

The Autumn Gold Pension Scheme is a fund that allows enterprises employing a minimum of 5 to 50 employees to allow their employees to provide an attractive retirement package for their employees. The fund adequately caters for the following situations and trends.

Early retirement patterns – people now have an option of retiring from as early as age 55, meaning they can still be physically active and financially independent.Nowadays people prefer to retire early, change environment and leave their mark and embark on something they have always envisaged doing. The Autumn Gold pension scheme allows a person to access a significant chunk of their retirement capital as a lump sum. This allows empowerment as people will require working capital for whatever business interests they may wish to pursue without risking too much e.g. Mortgaging their property.
Loss of Breadwinner – Where an employee dies in service they leave behind a surviving spouse,children and dependants. The Autumn Gold Pension scheme pays two times annual salary tax free to the dependants in addition to the pension benefit. This results in the dependants being cushioned financially and thus their quality of life does not change abruptly

Key Benefits to the Employees

The employee’s family will receive a lump sum payout of 24 months of their gross salary tax free

In addition, they will also receive a free funeral rider of up to 3 months gross salary ( Subject to review from time to time) to assist in funeral arrangements at the time of death

There is no waiting period and this benefit kicks in the minute the first contribution is received regardless of the nature or cause of death.

Total peace of mind in the knowledge that their families are well catered for should the inevitable occur

Key benefits to the Employer

The employer gets to attract and retain highly skilled employees within the organization

The presence of such employee benefits creates and promotes a positive work environment conducive for greater productivity

A good reputation as an employer of choice as it is their duty to ensure that their employees families are catered for even beyond the grave or past their retirement age.

Why clients choose the Autumn Gold Pension Scheme

The following are the key reasons that Team FMHL should reinforce as we market the Autumn Gold Pension Fund;

Security
a sound capital and asset base making client investment assets safe with us. The question for us is not at what age you wish to retire but our concern is at what income should you retire

Longevity
a solid and reputable brand that has withstood the test of time and has been around for over a century now, and vast experience in pensions managed.

Operational Excellence
fast friendly staff who have the desired expertise to administer your investments professionally and offer sound financial advice. We have a robust Pensions Administration system to help us achieve swift turnaround times.

Innovation
the only ones currently offering the Hybrid Pension & Provident Fund

Superior Service Delivery
Claims are processed within 4 working days upon submission of all the required documents.

Mutually Beneficial Partnership
First Mutual Life believes in forming lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with its clients and undertakes to participate in partnership projects and major events through sponsorship in line with our corporate social investment and budget availability

This product was designed to enhance the benefits of an employee who would have retired on ill-health grounds. Under a Defined Contribution Scheme, the reduced years of service due to ill-health, negatively impact on the retirement package. Many employees who would ordinarily qualify for ill-health early retirement are therefore not keen to retire because of this element. The product allows for a win-win situation:-

Employee gets an enhanced retirement package
Employer can hire a more productive employee

Eligibility

All active members of a group pension scheme are eligible to participate in the Fund.

Contributions

The employer pays an additional contribution expressed as a percentage of salary bill for the provision of this benefit.

Benefits

The fund releases a lump sum which is a multiple of member’s salary as at date of retirement. This additional lump sum when combined with the retirement capital accumulated under the main Pension fund, ensures that a more meaningful pension is paid to the Retiree.

Group Funeral Benefit

This product entails the dedication of a specific premium towards a Fund that is meant to give immediate assistance to the family in making burial arrangements. The benefit is paid by the insurer within 24 hours of receiving a burial order.

Who Is Covered

Employers are given two options of taking up the Group Funeral Benefit Scheme:

(i) as a stand alone
If the Employer opts for the above, the benefit will apply to the member and extended to cover the spouse and children (up to a maximum of three children)

(ii) as a rider
This means that the benefit will be offered complimentary to the Group Life Assurance Scheme. In this instance, the benefit is payable only upon death of the employee, cover does not extend to the family.

The selected option will determine the cost of the benefit.

Contributions

The employer will pay a premium for the provision of this benefit. The premium will be calculated as a percentage of the monthly salary bill.

Benefits

A lump sum payment is made out on death which is a multiple of member’s salary as at date death (eg 3 times monthly salary). Employers are free to choose the multiple that best suits their needs, and this shall determine the cost of the benefit.

Group Life Assurance

This product is designed to enable an Employer to provide a benefit to the surviving spouse/children/dependants for Employees that die -in- service.. The Group Life Assurance benefit is paid together with other pension benefits upon death of the member.

Eligibility

All full time permanent employees are eligible for participation. Contract workers are also eligible for cover

Contributions

The employer will pay a premium for the provision of this benefit. The premium will be calculated as a percentage of the monthly salary bill

Benefits

A lump sum payment is made out to the surviving spouse/children/dependants on death of the employee. The benefit is a multiple of member’s annual salary as at date death (eg 2 times annual salary). Employers are however free to choose the multiple that best suits their employees’ needs and this shall determine the cost of the benefit.

Claims Notification

Harare

Bulawayo

Mortgage Protection

This scheme covers companies against loss through loans given to salaried employees .First Mutual takes the risk of paying the loan in full if the in the case of death or disability of the member of the scheme.

Premiums

Monthly premiums will be charged as a rate per thousand of the outstanding debt balance . The premiums payable will thus be reducing with the reduction in debt.

Benefits

The Benefits are payable in two instances which are upon death of the insured and in the case of total permanent disability. These are totalled below:

Death Of Insured (Employee)

Upon death of the insured member of the scheme, First Mutual Life Assurance will take over the debt repayment. First Mutual Life will have the option of either paying outstanding balance as a lump sum as at the date of death or taking over the debt repayment.

Total Permanent Disability

Permanent disability caused by physical accidents or accidental and immediate illness attacks (e.g. Stroke, Heart attack) which totally incapacitates the Group member’s ability to carry out his day to day work will also be covered. First Mutual Life will take over the debt repayment.

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