The Perfume Shop implements further financial wellbeing support for employees
The Perfume Shop, the UK’s largest fragrance retailer, has introduced its latest financial wellbeing initiative for employees, making 2023/2024 its biggest year yet for employee financial wellbeing support.
Introduction of Wagestream
The introduction of Wagestream in 2024 is the latest in a long line of financial wellbeing support initiatives The Perfume Shop has recently introduced, as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting its teams. Wagestream has been launched across their UK and Republic of Ireland operations earlier this year, benefiting over 2000 employees. Nearly 40% of the UK workforce and over 50% of the Republic of Ireland workforce have already downloaded the app. On average, employees are accessing just over £40 per month before payday. A key benefit of Wagestream is how it encourages people to save. The build pot feature helps people save up to £1,000, paying 5% interest. Employees have saved over £10,000 since launch.
In addition to introducing the Wagestream app to all employees both in stores across the UK, in the warehouse, and head office, The Perfume Shop continues to offer services with Retail Trust, an ongoing partnership that provides financial and wellbeing support when needed.
How else are The Perfume Shop supporting employees?
- Commitment to Real Living Wage
Within the last 12 months, The Perfume Shop has introduced a raft of financial support initiatives, including increasing pay by 10% to the real Living Wage in January 2023. In July 2023, the company became formally accredited as a real Living Wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation, demonstrating their commitment to not only paying their employees the real Living Wage but also key people outside The Perfume Shop’s employment. - Additional financial support initiatives
In addition to the real Living Wage, The Perfume Shop believes in rewarding and recognising hard work by paying commission to everyone who works in their stores through October, November, and December, their busiest time of year. Launched in October 2022, The Perfume Shop has paid out over £1M in commission, with the average Sales Advisor earning an additional £250. - Enhanced paid holiday entitlement
The Perfume Shop understands the importance of time away from work for wellbeing. They have enhanced their paid holiday entitlement for store teams, which builds with service. On joining full-time, people based in stores will receive 30 days, increasing to 35 days at 5 years of service, and up to 38 days holiday from 15 years of service (inclusive of bank holidays). - Improved maternity pay
Maintaining financial wellbeing through time away from work is also crucial. The Perfume Shop has reviewed its maternity pay offer and implemented enhanced pay for Store Managers, Deputy Managers, and Head Office employees. Eligible employees will now receive full pay for the first 13 weeks, followed by 50% pay for a further 13 weeks. This significant investment aims to protect employees from worrying about their finances at an important time for them and their families. - Employee discounts and perks
The Perfume Shop offers generous employee discounts and savings through their Perks at Work app. Being part of the AS Watson group, employees also enjoy a discount at Superdrug and mobile phone offers through Three. - Health and wellbeing support
The Perfume Shop has also introduced Aviva DigiCare+ to all UK-based employees, offering free virtual GP consultations, access to personal nutritional advice, a second medical opinion, and health assessments. For employees based in the Republic of Ireland, they have partnered with The Retail Trust to offer free virtual GP services.
Michelle Fellows, People and Development Director at The Perfume Shop, said, “The health and happiness of our employees are extremely important to us, which is why our People Strategy has a clear focus on financial wellbeing. With the continued impact of the cost-of-living crisis, we’re constantly looking at ways we can support our teams. We’re proud to be real Living Wage accredited employers and our new partnership with Wagestream, plus commission, enhanced maternity pay, additional paid holiday entitlement, in addition to all our established benefits has been hugely popular with our employees. We’re confident we offer one of the best suites of benefits and wellbeing offerings on the High Street and these further investments demonstrate how much we value our teams.”
