DEPT® Empowers employees with flexible holiday allowance

A nine-to-five job with standard vacation pay and being in the office five days a week just doesn’t excite everyone anymore. Flexibility and freedom at work are becoming more important. DEPT® is tackling this by constantly coming up with new initiatives to keep employees happy. One example is making holiday allowance flexible with the Alleo app.

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"People love the fact that they have more control over their finances, and that they have the option to manage their money in a way that suits their choices, life stages, and needs." - Marjan Smit, DEPT®

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The digital media and tech agency DEPT® wanted to offer benefits and rewards to employees in an innovative way. With a rapidly growing number of employees, preferences for flexibele benefits changed quickly. Although DEPT® already offered a generous benefits package, they wanted to expand their offerings further to better meet the needs and desires of their employees.

There was a need for a flexible benefits package, in addition to the existing employment conditions, including essential benefits such as Learning & Development and mental wellbeing. Because the free space of the work-related-cost-scheme (WKR) was not sufficient, DEPT® sought an additional solution that could be implemented with "salary components." The solution was found in flexibele holiday allowance.

To meet this need, Alleo developed an in-app solution that allows employees to manage and spend their vacation paid out flexible, in a way that suits their personal needs. For instance, one employee might choose to receive their vacation pay monthly to cover ongoing expenses like rent, utility bills, or childcare costs. This allows DEPT® employees to tailor their benefits to their individual preferences, contributing to their satisfaction and motivation.

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Flexible holiday allowance pay-out

Life can throw unexpected and expensive challenges at us. DEPT® wanted its employees to be able to face them. Employees can now have their holiday allowance paid out through the Alleo app whenever they want to: employees can either withdraw a one-off transaction or select a monthly payout on their bank account.

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Flexibly use their holiday allowance as a budget for benefits

DEPT® employees can also decide to use their holiday allowance as a budget for the Alleo benefits

marketplace, instead of opting for a pay-out. That way, they receive an extra benefits package, fully flexible, on top of the existing employee benefits at DEPT®. 

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Ownership & trust

Alleo was able to impact the following aspects with its solution:

• Financial ownership and autonomy. “People love the fact that they have more say about their finances – or that the option to manage their finances to their liking at least exists” 
• Financial wellbeing. DEPT® employees can choose to have their holiday allowance paid out when they want and receive collective discounts in the Alleo app.
• Showing trust in employees. Alleo offers Depsters 48 extra benefits they can access whenever they want or need to.
• Execute the company culture. “We’re nothing without all these talented people. We’re a real people business. [...] That’s integrated into our culture. And Alleo fits into that philosophy.” 
• Less administrative work for the HR department. No need for administrative hassle for each benefit, giving back valuable time to HR.
• Insights. Via the portal, DEPT® can see which benefits are used most often and which ones are less popular. Based on these insights, DEPT® can offer options that suit their workforce.

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Conclusion

DEPT® was able to break away from the traditional way holiday allowance is used. In its place, they introduced flexibility and autonomy through a new benefits package. They found a way that reflects their company culture and with Alleo they were able to extend their unique company culture.

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