Aviva is introducing additional services and a new escalation rate for its group income protection (GIP) product.
New customers taking out GIP will now benefit from an employee assistance programme (EAP) and 24 hour GP helpline for no additional cost.
Existing customers will pick the benefits up at their next renewal.
The new rate will see payments measured against the Retail Price Index (RPI) and be capped at 2.5%.
It was previously set against the Limited Price Index, which was pegged to RPI but itself capped at 2.5%.
EAP helplines offered include stress counseling, bereavement and legal, alongside the 24 hour GP service.
Employers can also upgrade their cover to add an extended or full EAP.
The extended product includes additional debt management and online information services for employees and managers, while the full version offers all the above services and up to six face-to-face counseling sessions.
For an additional charge, cover can also be extended to all employees in the company.
The provider suggests the additional services will support its findings earlier in the year that almost one in four businesses (23%) claims the recent economically difficult times have taken a lasting toll on employee stress levels.
Steve Bridger, head of group risk at Aviva UK Health said: "Individuals can be affected by all manner of problems from personal factors to pressure of work but stress is extremely hard to tackle as people often mask the symptoms until its too late."
"The good news is that early identification and treatment of stress-related conditions through group income protection and employee assistance programmes is possible and has extremely positive results. This means that recovery times, and therefore absence lengths can be significantly controlled," he added.
