Human Rights
Human Rights
As a UNGC participant, MetLife prioritizes human rights and upholds policies and regulations designed to prevent any abuses of human rights, such as human trafficking or slavery, forced labor and child labor.
Although we believe governments hold the primary responsibility for safeguarding and protecting human rights, we also believe that championing DEI and human rights within our businesses is core to our purpose and in alignment with the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Read MetLife’s Statement on Human Rights and our Slavery and Human Trafficking Statements.
Government Relations
MetLife’s Government Relations team engages with policymakers and relevant stakeholders internationally, regionally and within individual markets to support our business, colleagues, customers and communities. In driving business objectives, Government Relations also supports opportunities and activities that promote more confident futures for our customers and communities in which we operate. In addition, MetLife’s CEO Michel Khalaf and the Executive Leadership Team often meet with policymakers to raise questions and advocate for MetLife on legislation and regulations.
For example, we have been leading efforts to modernize state laws to enable the electronic execution of estate-planning documents. Most Americans die without leaving a will in place, especially in minority communities. Passage of such legislation can help ease the process of passing assets on to future generations while serving the public interest and reducing the dockets of probate courts.
MetLife also works closely with U.S. federal and state policymakers to develop proposals and laws that help increase access to and availability of paid family medical leave (PFML). In the United States, nearly half of working Americans do not have access to PFML, and MetLife seeks to narrow the PFML gap. Public-private partnerships can lead to universal paid leave for workers, and establishing paid leave for all is a leading public policy priority.
The Government Relations team also collaborates with MetLife’s Global Sustainability function by engaging with regulators and other stakeholders on sustainability goals. Together, we have worked directly and through trade associations to provide input into the climate risk guidance issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, the deliberations on climate risk by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ consultations on climate risk, which aims to promote a globally consistent supervisory approach to climate-related risks.
Outside the United States, MetLife Mexico is partnering with the Mexican Association of Economic Development Secretaries (AMSDE), an organization committed to promoting business activity and driving regional economic development, to provide small and medium-sized enterprises with access to best practices, tools and training in financial education and financial health.
