Trading platform Stake’s two year offer to help staff tackle rising cost of living

The organisation has introduced new benefits to help staff tackle the cost of living, with one worth an extraordinary $18,000 over two years.

An Australian online trading platform has introduced a range of new perks to help staff tackle the cost of living, including one that is worth $18,000 over two years.

The company called Stake, will provide its more than 120 employees, childcare reimbursements of up to $1000 per month for 12 months and $500 per month for the following year.

It said it wanted to give families the flexibility to continue their careers as daycare costs become increasingly unmanageable.

“Childcare can cause significant financial strain for families, and given the increased cost of living, many prospective parents are worried they won’t be able to make ends meet,” Stake’s head of people and culture, Aline Van Koninckxloo, said.

“Stake’s mission is to help people break financial barriers, so we designed our benefits program to tackle one of the biggest costs facing families today.

“By reducing the financial burden we’re enabling people to make fulfilling decisions that are in their families’ best interests.”

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Aline Van Koninckxloo, head of people and culture at Stake. Picture: Supplied

The cost of living is predicted to worsen later in the year, with headline inflation expected to hit 7.75 per cent.

The Aussie fintech is also rewarding staff with perks worth $3500 a year.

Full time employees will be able to spend $1000 a year on services or activities that promote emotional, physical and social wellbeing, as well as $2500 annually to use on training courses, events, and accreditations that help them grow professionally.

It has slashed any waiting period for its parental leave benefits too.

All staff members will be immediately entitled to ten weeks of fully-paid parental leave, regardless of gender or caregiver status, alongside an additional six weeks of paid leave for the birth parent to assist with medical care.

Staff will get $3500 a year to spend on a range of things. Picture: Getty Images

With Australian women set miss out on $684 billion in superannuation contributions, Stake also announced it would pay super across leave balances so that parents can still save for retirement while caring for their children.

Women overwhelmingly take on most childcare responsibilities, which leads to prolonged periods out of work, Ms Van Koninckxloo added.

“Some women would like to return to their careers sooner, but the dated practice of splitting leave allowances according to a ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ carer means it’s often not financially feasible for parents to share responsibilities,” she said.

“Companies can offer more equitable career opportunities by changing the systemic assumption that women are the default primary carers.”

Childcare costs will be covered for two years. Picture: Andrea Obzerova/iStock

Employees will also be entitled to two weeks of paid miscarriage leave, plus 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave.

This is alongside two additional mental health days of leave to help them reset and avoid burnout. Staff can use these as they desire with no advance notice needed.

Stake has also implemented public holiday day swaps, which helps people from all cultures to celebrate occasions that mean the most to them, allowing people to swap assigned public holidays for days of their own preference.

First Nations employees are entitled to an additional five days of paid leave as well to fulfil the cultural and mourning responsibilities known as Sorry Business.

Other Australian employers have offered a range of insane work perks in the past year, including extra leave for long weekends, paying home internet bills and heartbreak leave.

Originally published as Trading platform Stake’s two year offer to help staff tackle rising cost of living