Help is at hand during a stressful time of year, GRiD says.

GRiD, the trade body for the group risk and protection industry, has urged  employers to do encourage their staff to make use of their existing employee benefits in the run up to Christmas.

The festive period – the run up to Christmas Day, the day itself, and the time afterwards – can all be particularly stressful for individuals and their families.

But GRiD is reminding employers that many group protection schemes offer access to helplines for mental wellbeing, support for relationship problems and access to virtual GPs.

Katharine Moxham, GRiD spokesperson, said the group risk industry has seen the utilisation of such benefits increase “significantly” since the pandemic and she does not expect that demand to diminish and may well increase over the festive period as employees face extra challenges this year.