July 2023 - Flare HR

The cost of living crisis:

Recent statistics reveal the severe extent of the current cost of living crisis. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, all five Living Cost Indices had an increase between 7% and 9% over the past year. Factors such as housing, food, and mortgage interest charges have contributed to this unprecedented rise, leaving employees struggling to cope with the financial burden. In these challenging times, employee benefits play a crucial role in alleviating the financial burden many families are facing.

Introducing Flare Benefits:

As the cost of living continues to rise, deals and discounts, courtesy of Flare, are a welcome relief. Make the most of your paycheck with the help of the Flare app, available through your workplace. By granting access to benefits on the go, Flare helps individuals tap into discounts from hundreds of retailers at over 9,000 locations, offering significant savings.

Unlocking savings:

One of the key features of the Flare app is the varied, exclusive employee discounts. From groceries to fashion, electronics to entertainment, the Flare app covers various aspects of daily expenses. You can now enjoy significant savings by utilising discounts offered by a wide range of retailers, making your money go further and helping to alleviate some of the financial strain.

Some of our favourite discounts we offer:

3% off at Woolworths

5% off at Airbnb

5% off at Doordash

Save on your car

Among the array of savings opportunities, Flare offers a game-changing Novated leasing option. With Novated leasing, employees can lease a vehicle using their pre-and-post-tax income, potentially resulting in savings on one of the biggest household expenses. By taking advantage of this offering, employees could enjoy significant tax benefits, reduced vehicle costs, and simplified vehicle management. Drive the car of your dreams while saving money on financing, fuel, insurance, and maintenance.

Improving employee wellbeing is one of the top priorities of HR leaders today. But what many people don’t realise is that 1.2 million households are currently suffering from financial stress. Therefore financial wellbeing is actually what sits at the centre of holistic wellness and has the potential to drive the most significant impact on working Australians. In this post, we’ll explain how to improve financial wellbeing in your workplace.

Financial wellbeing initiatives to bring into the workplace

Thankfully, there are many financial wellbeing initiatives that you can introduce to your employees. We share some of the most impactful ones below, along with an explanation of how they’ll improve the financial wellness levels of your workforce.

Novated car leasing

A novated lease allows employees to finance a new or used car by having their employer make payments out of their salary package with pre-tax deductions. With this arrangement, your employee is paying down a certain amount for a specified period of time. At the end of the lease period, they can choose to take out a new lease with a different car, extend the existing lease, or buy the car by paying the residual amount.

How this supports financial wellbeing:

One of the benefits of a novated lease is the tax break. Since the payments are coming out of your employee’s pre-tax income, your employee’s taxable income will be significantly reduced. Plus, your employees won’t have to worry about things like the goods and services tax (GST), which means they’ll have much more disposable income to use for their other needs.

Flexible pay

Flexible pay gives employees the ability to choose when they get paid – instead of following the organisation’s payroll schedule. For example, instead of receiving a paycheck every two weeks, an employee can choose to cash out on a weekly basis or even in real time. The whole purpose of this system is to allow employees to choose a compensation schedule that works for their specific needs and lifestyle.