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MetLife, a life insurance company, has been ranked as a TRAILBLAZER on the Women’s Power and Influence Index.

MetLife has an equitable pay policy in place with an annual compensation review process. MetLife offers employees paid parental leave and women-specific healthcare benefits, such as adoption and surrogacy financial assistance. In addition, MetLife has a Gender Equity Initiative that provides support and leadership opportunities for female employees.

As of 2021, women make up nearly 61% of MetLife’s workforce and approximately 31% of MetLife’s leadership positions are held by women.

The only Index criterion that MetLife lacks transparency on is pay parity. 

Review the comprehensive WPI criteria and methodology.

✓ Does the company demonstrate a clear and transparent commitment to equal pay? 

“As a standard and consistent practice, MetLife reviews employee pay to ensure it is both competitive with the external market and internally equitable…At MetLife, equal pay for equal work is important to us…Our compensation practices are essential to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where we value the contributions of all our employees. Therefore, we are committed to continuing to review our practices to ensure fairness and equity.”

Ref: MetLife Pay Equity Statement, pg. 1

✓ Does the company perform an annual analysis of gender pay equity and pay disparities? 

“MetLife’s culture of equity and inclusion extends to every aspect of our business, including our compensation practices. We annually review employees’ pay and our pay practices to ensure we incent the right behaviors and are providing equal pay for equal work.”

Ref: MetLife Pay Equity Statement, pg. 1

✓ Do female employees earn at least 95% of what their male counterparts earn?

Information regarding this criterion was unavailable or incomplete.

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to actively attracting, retaining, and/or promoting women within the organization? 

“We measure ourselves against industry benchmarks and are committed to maintaining top-quartile performance across ethnic and racial diversity in the U.S. and achieving top-quartile performance in our female officer population globally.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report pg. 2

✓ Does the company provide professional development programs designed specifically for female employees? 

“MetLife’s Gender Equity Initiative provides inclusive leadership development and offers women a variety of career support programs, including peer mentoring groups and workplace policies and benefits that support flexibility and work-life integration.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 23

“We hosted a fourth annual Triangle Tech X Conference, bringing together influential newsmakers, inspirational thinkers and leaders to examine barriers and discuss solutions around the topic of increasing the number of women in science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM). The free virtual summit is open to the public, and MetLife colleagues are invited and encouraged to extend an invitation to their networks.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 23

✓ Does the company provide professional development programs designed specifically for diverse employees?

“EXCELERATE, MetLife’s CEO-driven talent sponsorship program, focuses on nurturing the diversity of our future leadership cohort by accelerating the progression of underrepresented groups as leaders.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, 2022

✓ Does the company offer a formal mentoring program to support the career advancement of all female employees? 

“MetLife’s Gender Equity Initiative provides inclusive leadership development and offers women a variety of career support programs, including peer mentoring groups and workplace policies and benefits that support flexibility and work-life integration.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 23

✓ Does the company offer a formal mentoring program to support the career advancement of diverse employees?  

“MetLife’s Gender Equity Initiative provides inclusive leadership development and offers women a variety of career support programs, including peer mentoring groups and workplace policies and benefits that support flexibility and work-life integration.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 23

✓ Does the company have policies and programs in place to actively recruit female candidates?

“To deliver on our purpose, we are always searching for the best talent to join MetLife. We deeply value and endorse the inclusion of intercultural diversity (race, ethnicity, culture, disabilities, generations, religion, gender, sexual orientation), work experiences, skills, perspectives and thinking styles. We ensure the development, performance and progression of a robust talent pipeline by taking the necessary actions to increase diversity across geographies, departments and positions, from entry-level to management to our chief executive office.”

Ref: Ensuring Diversity and Inclusion & Inclusion in Metlife’s Recruitment Policy, pg. 1

✓ Does the company have policies and programs in place to actively recruit diverse candidates? 

“To deliver on our purpose, we are always searching for the best talent to join MetLife. We deeply value and endorse the inclusion of intercultural diversity (race, ethnicity, culture, disabilities, generations, religion, gender, sexual orientation), work experiences, skills, perspectives and thinking styles. We ensure the development, performance and progression of a robust talent pipeline by taking the necessary actions to increase diversity across geographies, departments and positions, from entry-level to management to our chief executive office.”

Ref: Ensuring Diversity and Inclusion & Inclusion in Metlife’s Recruitment Policy, pg. 1

“We have guidelines around diverse hiring best practices for hiring managers in each round of the recruitment and hiring process. Part of our hiring guidelines include having managers interview qualified diverse candidates. We promote diversity among interviewers for each position, and we train internal and external recruiters and managers to be aware of potential biases in the hiring, review and career development process.”

Red: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 31

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to providing support and/or time off for women with children?

“Our extensive benefits and well-being resources are rooted in our commitment to empathy and care, with programs that promote security and serve our colleagues and their families in times of need…The Families at MetLife inclusion network connects and supports colleagues who are navigating family and career by keeping members apprised of available MetLife resources, organizing learning events and activities, and serving as a voice for caregivers.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 29

✓ Does the company provide child care support for employees?  

“Family First Provides caregivers access to a team of experts who can assist in finding personalized caregiving solutions, as well as addressing mental/ behavioral health challenges, special needs and disabilities, substance abuse, chronic conditions, navigating Medicare and more.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 29

“Leveraged the BeWell program to support employees in their transition back to the office through, for example, childcare and commuter benefits, and to promote employee financial well-being through practical advice and a conscious effort by the company to maintain the low cost of benefits without reductions in coverage.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 102

✘ Does the company offer subsidized child care?

Information regarding this criterion was unavailable or incomplete.

✓Does the company offer paid maternity leave for birthing parents?

“Competitive paid time off and parental leave programs are provided in all markets.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 30

“Parental Leave Benefits (# of weeks fully paid for birth or adoptive mothers and fathers) 8 weeks for “primary caregivers” 2 weeks for “secondary caregivers.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg 144

✓Does the company provide paid parental leave that extends beyond birthing parents to include surrogacy, adoption, and paternity leave?

“Competitive paid time off and parental leave programs are provided in all markets.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 30

“Parental Leave Benefits (# of weeks fully paid for birth or adoptive mothers and fathers) 8 weeks for “primary caregivers” 2 weeks for “secondary caregivers.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg 144

“MetLife is committed to fostering a globally diverse workforce and a company-wide culture that encourages a balance between employees’ personal and professional lives. In keeping with this commitment, it is MetLife’s policy to provide eligible employees up to $10,000 of financial assistance to help offset some of the expenses associated with adopting a child.”

Ref: U.S Employee Policies and Benefits 2020, pg. 1

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to supporting the health benefits of its female employees?

“MetLife provides benefits to all U.S. full-time employees, and these plans/programs are generally available to part-time employees working 20 hours per week or more. … Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees: Adoption and surrogacy financial assistance.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg 130

“Among a host of others, MetLife’s current family benefits include…Milk Stork Breastfeeding colleagues in the U.S. can take advantage of Milk Stork, a service that makes it easy and convenient for them to ship breast milk home during business travel.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg 27

✓ Does the company offer women-specific health benefits for female employees?

“MetLife provides benefits to all U.S. full-time employees, and these plans/programs are generally available to part-time employees working 20 hours per week or more. … Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees: Adoption and surrogacy financial assistance.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg 130

“Among a host of others, MetLife’s current family benefits include…Milk Stork Breastfeeding colleagues in the U.S. can take advantage of Milk Stork, a service that makes it easy and convenient for them to ship breast milk home during business travel.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg 27

✓ Does the company have a policy listing prohibited behaviors, such as harassment and retaliation?

“Sexual harassment consists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, physical, or written misconduct of a sexual nature when any of the following criteria are met:

• Submission to such misconduct is made an implicit or explicit term or condition of employment
• Submission to or rejection of such misconduct is the basis of any employment decision or;
• Such misconduct unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.

Sexual harassment may include a variety of subtle and/or obvious behaviors and may involve individuals of the same or different sex. Some examples of behaviors that may constitute sexual harassment are: sexual jokes and innuendoes; verbal abuse of a sexual nature; leering, whistling, or touching; insulting or obscene comments or gestures; display or circulation in the workplace of sexually suggestive objects or pictures; inquiries into an individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sexual experiences; commentaries about a person’s body; and any other physical, written, verbal, or visual sexual behavior.

Unwelcome conduct directed toward anyone because of any protected characteristics also constitutes discriminatory harassment when such misconduct unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment. ”

Ref: Equal Employment Opportunity and Anti-Harassment Policy, pg. 2

✓ Does the company mandate all employees to undergo harassment and discrimination training?

“Complete your mandatory training and annual Code Attestation on time to stay up to date on what’s expected of you.”

Ref: Code of Business Ethics, pg. 8

“Mandatory training topics included anti-money laundering and sanctions, privacy and data protection, fraud prevention, gifts and entertainment, sales practices and ethical business conduct…98% of employees completed the 2022 Code of Business Ethics training.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 89

✓ Does the company have a defined harassment policy that includes promptly addressing reported incidents?

“Actions or words that harass or intimidate others based on protected characteristics and/or that are of a sexual nature are strictly forbidden and will not be tolerated. Discriminatory harassment is prohibited by federal and applicable state and local law. Such conduct will result in appropriate corrective action in accordance with MetLife policies and practices, up to and including termination.”

Ref: Equal Employment Opportunity and Anti-Harassment Policy, pg. 1

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to helping external stakeholders address gender equality issues?

“In addition to strengthening our talent and development efforts with a view to ethnic and racial diversity, we also continue to focus on gender equity. MetLife’s Gender Equity Initiative provides inclusive leadership development and offers women a variety of career support programs, including peer-mentoring groups and workplace policies and benefits that support flexibility and work-life integration. MetLife sponsors and participates in the Global Summit of Women and is committed to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and the UNGC’s gender equality accelerator program “Target Gender Equality.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 23

“In addition, we have expanded our partnerships with Girls Who Code and the National African American Insurance Association to help improve the skills of young diverse students, while also creating new relationships with Hiring Our Heroes, Blacks In Technology and Women in Technology International.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 31

✓ Does the company offer and support initiatives that promote gender equality in the community?

✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to helping internal stakeholders/employees address gender equality issues?

“MetLife sponsors and participates in the Global Summit of Women and is committed to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and the UNGC’s gender equality accelerator program, “Target Gender Equality.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 23

✓ Does the company offer equity-focused trainings, speaker programs, or events for employees?

“We hosted a fourth annual Triangle Tech X Conference, bringing together influential newsmakers, inspirational thinkers and leaders to examine barriers and discuss solutions around the topic of increasing the number of women in science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM)….Our annual Women in Sales summits center on personal and professional development, building communities and connections, and supporting the development of women in sales careers.”

Ref: 2022 Sustainability Report, pg. 23

*Our Index utilizes binary measurements, where ✓ represents a score of 1, and ✘ represents a score of 0.

*All links are valid as of April 2024