Happy, engaged employees is every HR Director’s goal. It’s why Flare has created Australia’s first, all-in-one pay and benefits app, available to any business for free.
A recent study, commissioned by Flare, in collaboration with Ernst & Young Australia (EY), showed nearly 70% of employees live paycheck-to-paycheck, with less than $5000 in savings. Half say they can’t meet their needs in an emergency. Add this to the current labour market shock sparked by the pandemic and it’s no surprise that people are reflecting on whether their current employer is meeting their financial needs.
It makes sense: the place where financial stress is felt most acutely is where people earn. But what Flare has identified is that the workplace is also the most powerful opportunity to address the issue.
When you start a job in the US or Europe, the first thing you ask is ‘what are my benefits?’ That’s the question Flare believes every worker should ask when they start a job in Australia. But we don’t have that same benefits culture here.
State of pay in Australia
Despite having one of the world’s largest government-mandated superannuation systems, the Flare and EY data shows that 4 in 10 Australians don’t think of super as part of their pay package.
Significantly, this data also shows only a third of Australian workers have access to a benefits program, even though over three quarters would use one if offered. But of those that do, most employees feel it meaningfully improves their pay package. And 4 in 10 workers are more likely to stay in a job because their employer offers a benefits program.
The new Flare App and Card are directly addressing these needs, giving HR leaders a powerful new weapon to add value to every employee’s experience, and provide a real opportunity for positive workforce engagement. The app includes the following features:
- The option to access your wages in real time with the Flare Card for free – without incurring any fees, charges or interest.
- Free access to a competitive suite of perks and discounts from leading Australian retailers and service providers.
- Access to valuable salary packaging services to save on tax – including novated car leasing, a tax structure that saves car owners an average of $5,500 per year.
- Better engagement with your superannuation savings – the largest benefit available to most Australians.
- Flare has partnered with Westpac, Australia’s oldest bank, to provide a full banking-as-a-service experience to employees within their workplace – launching later this year.
Even more importantly, the Flare App empowers people to leverage their take-home pay more effectively. It gives every employee a clearer picture of how their take-home pay is split into their salary, tax and super, and how they can leverage their benefits platform to increase their purchasing power – effectively giving themselves a pay boost.
Benefits for everyone
We fundamentally believe that no Australian should have to pay to get paid.
The new Flare App will help to ensure that every employee – no matter their workplace, level or role – can access the benefits and super platform in-app, and also has the option to access their wages on demand for free using the Flare Card.
It’s important to help employees understand the range of benefits on offer and become familiar with how they work, particularly in the case of earned wage access, to make sure that they make the most out of these benefits and that they use the ones that are right for them. Flare works directly with employers to help them communicate this information in a way that best suits their needs.
The app is rolling out now to a range of early-access partners, and will progressively become available to the rest of the Flare network over the course of the year.
To find out more about how the new Flare App and Card can help your business solve the Great Resignation, visit flarebenefits.com