Building a purposeful, people-first benefits framework for 2027 and beyond.
01 — What we're asking forLeadership
Three things.
Specific decisions we need from this meeting to unlock the 2027 AOP roadmap.
1
Endorse the 3-pillar philosophy as our global framework, providing a clear "why" behind every future proposal. Following endorsement, the benefits team will scope the market for providers and costs to address benefit gaps.
What does this mean in practice? ▾
It means that from 2027, every benefit proposal — whether a new gym benefit in Germany or an enhanced parental leave policy in the US — will map back to one of our three pillars. Finance and leadership will be able to see immediately what we're trying to achieve and why the investment is justified. Without a philosophy, each proposal is judged in isolation. With one, they build a coherent, strategic picture.
2
Confirm support for extending parental leave for birthing parents, along with an IRL flexibility policy for returning parents.
What's the specific proposal? ▾
Birthing parents would move from their current statutory leave to 6 months at full pay globally. Non-birthing parents would receive 3 months. Returning parents in months 1–6 back would have 2 days/week in hub as a default with no exception process needed — just a standard policy they can rely on.
3
Confirm support to bring a request to Finance during AOP for increased contributions toward dependent coverage and a $0 cost tier for at least one employee-only plan.
Why does the US stand apart? ▾
The average US company spends $17,496 per employee on healthcare. We currently spend $10,468 — 40% below market. 1 in 4 US employees rates family plan contributions as unsatisfactory, and only 12% of enrolled employees currently cover dependents — though it's implied many more would like to but can't afford to. For senior hires, this is a real financial differentiator when choosing between offers.
Timeline to AOP
May–Jun
Philosophy sign-off (this deck)
Jun–Jul
Re-model US contributions; gap analysis per hub
Aug
Finalise proposals + Finance sign-off
Sep
AOP submission
Oct–Nov
US Open Enrollment + global provider engagement
02 — ContextWhy now
Driving a global philosophy
A narrative that makes sense to Finance, leadership, and our people.
Narrative
Annual benefit proposals have lacked a unifying story. Finance and leadership need to understand the "why" behind every investment. We need a narrative that drives our plans and makes sense to our people.
What's the problem today? ▾
Today, benefits decisions are made market-by-market without a shared framework. A fitness benefit in Spain gets approved because it's a legal norm. The US medical upgrade gets approved because of retention pressure. But there's no thread connecting them — no story we can tell candidates, employees, or Finance about what Perk actually stands for when it comes to taking care of people.
Global philosophy, local delivery
Consistent philosophy, but what it looks like in practice may vary by location. A country's local laws, market norms and existing benefits will shape how each pillar is delivered. The commitment is global. The execution is local.
Can you give an example? ▾
Pillar 1 — Fit & Healthy — means every hub should have access to either medical insurance or a gym benefit, with Perk covering at least one. In Spain, this looks like a choice between Cigna or Wellhub. In the UK, it's Bupa plus gym discounts. In Germany, it's Urban Sports Club or a job ticket. Same commitment; different execution based on what works locally.
The US: a category of its own
Higher costs, greater complexity, and a focus for senior hiring. The US will always require more investment, but our global philosophy still drives the approach here too.
Why does the US need more? ▾
Healthcare in the US is employer-funded in a way it simply isn't elsewhere. Candidates actively compare medical plan contributions when weighing job offers. A senior engineer adding their family to our Premium plan currently pays ~$12k/year out of their own salary — compared to peers who cover significantly more. This is a talent and retention issue, not just a benefits one.
The goal: Define a clear global benefits philosophy that gives every proposal a purpose, and tells people what we stand for.
03 — BenchmarkingExternal
What are leading companies doing?
Benchmarking global benefits philosophies: tech, industry competitors & similar-culture companies
Company
Benefits focus
Core pillars
Expensify
"We genuinely care for your wellbeing"
Health · Family · Connection
Spotnana
"Care for the people who make everything possible"
Health · Family · Mental health · Finance
Brex
Helping you stay sharp and supported
Wellbeing · Family moments · In-person connection
Criteo
"Criteo Cares" — human-centric globally
Family · Community · Health & Wellbeing
Hubspot
"Benefits go beyond perks"
Health · Parents · Fitness · Mental health
Sierra (AI)
"Best tech company for parents"
In-person · Family-first · Personalised stipend
Monzo
"Taking care of you so you can take care of customers"
Family · Mental health · Rich UK pension
Datadog
"Investing in You" — global philosophy, local delivery
Health · Retirement · Fertility · Mental health
Consistent themes that emerge globally:
Health & Wellbeing
Family Support & Reproductive Health
Purposeful Connection
Why does this matter for Perk? ▾
Our proposed three pillars — Fit & Healthy, Together IRL, You & Your Family — directly mirror the themes every comparable company has converged on. This isn't us inventing something new; it's us formalising and aligning to what the talent market expects. When a candidate asks "what does Perk offer?" we need a story that competes with Hubspot's parents-first positioning and Datadog's global-local model.
04 — Our PhilosophyPerk's philosophy
Our Global Benefits Philosophy
Three pillars. Globally consistent. Locally delivered.
At Perk, we believe people thrive when they feel healthy, connected and supported. Our benefits are built around those core beliefs.
01
Fit & Healthy
Keeping you well in body and mind.
What's included? ▾
Medical insurance or gym access in every hub, with Perk covering at least one. Spring Health for therapy and coaching available globally. Preventative care education, particularly in the US where cancer rates in under-35s are rising.
02
Together IRL
We invest in the moments that keep our people connected.
Why is this a pillar? ▾
Social connection drives wellbeing, retention and performance. IRL is already a formalised core Perk philosophy — we onboard in person, run regular hub events, and bring everyone together for the Barcelona summer party. Framing this as a benefit pillar gives it strategic weight and helps employees see it as something we invest in for them, not a policy they have to follow.
03
You & Your Family
We know the people waiting for you at home matter too.
Why is this a pillar? ▾
Supporting parents is something our CEO is passionate and vocal about. Formalising it as a pillar means that commitment is backed by what we actually offer. It responds to direct internal feedback and demonstrates that we understand the value of home life — not just work performance.
Three pillars. Globally consistent. Locally delivered.
05 — Pillar 1Fit & Healthy
01 Fit & Healthy
Physical health · mental wellbeing · emotional resilience
#1Fitness & Movement voted top wellbeing priority by employees
1 in 3Employees in Spain actively using Spring Health
1 in 4US employees unhappy with medical costs — particularly those with families
#2Mental health is the second most valued benefit globally
Minimum level
One or the other
Every hub has access to at least medical insurance OR a gym/fitness benefit (e.g. Wellhub)
5★ Goal
Choice available
Medical & fitness both available, Perk covers whichever you choose
7★ Ambition
Both fully covered
Both medical and fitness fully Perk-covered — our longer-term north star
Why this is a benefit pillar:Health is consistently people's top priority, and it's already a core investment across most hubs. This pillar formalises that and gives clear direction for the regions where we still have gaps.
06 — Pillar 2Together IRL
02 Together IRL
Presenting in-person connection as a benefit, not just a policy
Leveraging what we already heavily invest in:
IRL Onboarding
New starters onboard in core hubs. You meet your team in person before your first week is done.
Team Offsites
Regular cross-hub team retreats — a chance to think big and spend real time with colleagues.
Hub Events
Organised by dedicated hub ambassadors and our Community team throughout the year.
Barcelona Summer Party
Company-wide annual gathering. All of Perk, in one place, for a few days.
Hub End-of-Year Celebrations
Local end-of-year events in every hub to look back on what we built together.
Community Team
A full-time team dedicated to belonging and connection — a real, sustained investment.
Why this is a benefit pillar: Social connection drives wellbeing, retention and performance. IRL is already a formalised core Perk philosophy — blending it into our benefit pillars gives it more strategic weight and highlights it as a positive, rather than just a "policy" people have to follow.
07 — Pillar 3You & Your Family
03 You & Your Family
We already support families in many ways. When it comes to new parents and those returning to work, we want to do more.
Spring Health
Therapy & coaching for employees and their families
Family Hub Events
Family-friendly events throughout the year across all hubs
Flexibility
Informal flexibility for childcare pickups, school runs and family needs
Extended Parental Leave
From 3 to 6 months depending on eligibility. Both birthing and non-birthing parents supported with full pay.
See the detail ▾
Birthing parents: 6 months full pay globally (aligned from current varying statutory positions). Non-birthing/backup parents: 3 months full pay. Minimum: align all global hubs to at least Spain's current 19-week statutory position as a baseline.
Phased IRL Return
Flexibility when returning to work after parental leave — 2 days/week in hub for months 1–6, no exception process needed.
Why does this matter? ▾
Currently, returning parents have to make individual arrangements with their manager, which creates inconsistency and stress. Formalising 2 days/week for the first 6 months makes the return predictable and removes the need to "ask permission" — it's just the policy.
Gentle Re-Onboarding
Weeks 1–2 internal only, no external meetings. A gentle re-introduction to work and a Parents Connect peer buddy.
Family Hub Events
Regular family-friendly events across our hubs so the people in your life are always welcome.
Nursery Sick Days
5 extra days on top of standard sick leave, activated at nursery enrollment and valid for 12 months.
Why this is a benefit pillar:Supporting parents is something our CEO is passionate and vocal about. Formalising it as a pillar means that commitment is backed by what we offer.
08 — Gap AnalysisGaps
Where we need to level up
IRL connection is already covered everywhere. The gaps are in Fit & Healthy and You & Your Family.
● In place● Needs improvement● Priority / nothing in place
Region
Fit & Healthy — Current
Fit & Healthy — Needed
You & Your Family
United States (350)
✓ Aetna + Wellhub
Improve employer contributions; HDHP free for EE-only
16 weeks → 24 weeks
United Kingdom (432)
✓ Bupa · ⚠ Gymflex limited
Add Wellhub — employee choice like Spain
16 weeks → 24 weeks
Spain (1,051)
✓ Cigna or Wellhub, Perk covers one
No change needed
19 weeks → 24 weeks
Germany (56)
⚠ Transport or gym, no health insurance
Introduce health insurance; Spain model
14 weeks + pre/post leave top-up bonus
Switzerland & NL (81)
✗ No health insurance or gym benefit
Minimum: Wellhub. Goal: health or gym choice
16 weeks → 24 weeks
Serbia (17)
✓ Private medical · ⚠ No gym
No enhancement suggestions
70% pay + pre/post leave top-up bonus
What's the priority order for closing these gaps? ▾
Switzerland and Netherlands are the most urgent — currently zero health or fitness benefit. Germany is next given team size and the complexity of introducing health insurance there. UK can be addressed relatively quickly by adding Wellhub alongside existing Bupa provision, using the Spain model as the template. These will be scoped for cost and provider availability in June–July if the philosophy is endorsed today.
09 — Outside the pillarsRetirement
Pensions & Retirement
Strategic, not absent. Why pension isn't a pillar — and what we do instead.
Our position:We address pensions where the law or market requires it — and invest in financial empowerment everywhere else. We are strategic about where we add pension schemes, and where possible prefer to empower people to manage their own money well.Why not make it a pillar? ▾
Retirement matching is often the #1 most valued benefit in tech. Employees ask for it and competitors offer it. But adding pension globally costs millions in contributions and infrastructure. The strategic call is to meet legal requirements, get ahead of UK regulation quietly, and invest in financial education everywhere else — which costs ~$20k/year vs millions in pension infrastructure.
Where we must offer
UK & US: Mandatory / already in place. Germany: Employee requests make it mandatory to provide. Switzerland & Netherlands: Required/already offered.
UK: the conservative approach
Perk's UK pension calculated on Qualifying Earnings — a lower band expected to be phased out by regulation. Proposal: employees can opt to full basic salary on request. New joiners default to full basic from day one.
What's the estimated cost? ▾
Cost will be scoped once direction is approved. The approach is deliberately conservative — offering the opt-out quietly, on request only, rather than advertising it. This limits the cost exposure while still being ahead of regulation and responsive to the employees who ask.
Elsewhere: education over cost
2x annual financial empowerment sessions per region from financial experts. Personal investing, retirement planning, making the most of local state provision.
~$20k/year vs millions in pension infrastructure
10 — US MedicalUS stands apart
The US stands apart.
If we want to hire and retain senior talent in the US, generous medical benefits are non-negotiable.
40%Below market — we spend $10,468/employee vs $17,496 industry average
1 in 4US employees rate family plan contributions as unsatisfactory
12%Of enrolled employees cover dependents — many more can't afford to
~$12kAnnual out-of-pocket cost for an employee adding spouse + children to Premium plan
Priority 1
Make base plan $0 for Employee Only
Now: EE HDHP = $47.42/month
Target: $0/month for EE-only HDHP
Market context ▾
18% of tech peers already offer at least one free tier for employee-only coverage, with an average EE cost of $95/month. Making our HDHP free would put us ahead of most peers for employee-only and removes a friction point in the hiring conversation.
Priority 2
Increase employer % on family tiers
Now: EE+Spouse Premium = $873.75/month
Target: reduce EE share to at least 30%
Why 30%? ▾
Our peer benchmark for employer share on family tiers is 23% — we're currently at 38–40%, meaning employees pay far more than market. Getting to 30% would close roughly half the gap, at a meaningful but manageable cost increase. The detailed modelling for this will happen in June–July if direction is approved today.
Priority 3
Preventative care education push
Now: low utilisation of free covered services
Target: comms campaign & education
What's the data? ▾
Preventative services — including cancer screenings — are 100% covered on all Aetna plans. Mercer data shows unusually high cancer rates in under-35s. The issue is awareness: employees don't know these services are fully covered, so they don't use them. A targeted comms campaign is low cost and high impact.
11 — US FinancialsMedical Plans
Estimated US medical cost increase
Current spend vs 2027 proposal — assuming 15% renewal increase. This is the "7-star" model; a less drastic version can also be modelled.
Plan
Perk cost 2026
EE share 2026 (family)
Perk cost 2027 (est.)
EE share 2027 (family)
Annual increase
Base Plan (incl. HSA)
$1.33M
10–20%
$1.5M
9–15% (EE Only FREE)
+$170k
Middle Plan
$1M
29–35%
$1.37M
15–17%
+$368k
Premium Plan
$547k
38–40%
$811k
22–25%
+$265k
Total
$2.88M
$3.69M
+$814,698
What's driving the increase
$337k
15% market renewal — this happens regardless of any contribution changes we make
$477k
Improved employer contributions — our actual investment in reducing employee burden
Assumptions
15% renewal increase applied to all plans (Mercer projections)
Lower dependent costs expected to add ~20 more with family plans
Based on 261 currently enrolled; excludes 2027 headcount assumptions
12 — AOP SummarySummary
Summary: What we're proposing for AOP
Work in progress — final cost projections to follow once direction is approved.
Area
Proposal
Priority
Est. cost impact
Pillar 1: Fit & Healthy
Wellhub / medical access in CH, NL and other gaps
High
~$30k–$50k per hub
Pillar 2: Together IRL
Formalise IRL / social connection as a benefits line
Low
Within existing spend
Pillar 3: You & Your Family
Extend parental leave to 24 weeks globally + IRL flexibility for returning parents
High
Backfill cost + minor payroll
Pensions / Financial
UK: QE opt-out + new joiner default to full basic. Global: 2x/year investment education sessions
Medium
~$20k/year for sessions
US Medical
HDHP to $0 EE-only; increase employer % on family tiers; preventative care education campaign
High
Re-model contributions + 15% rate increase
"Would love better support for adding family members — it's the one area that feels like it doesn't match the rest of the Perk experience"
Employee survey feedback, 2026 Open Enrollment
13 — Showcasing externallyGap analysis
A philosophy deserves a destination.
Now that we have a clear benefits philosophy, we have something worth showing externally.
Right now, benefit information is scattered across job descriptions, onboarding wikis, and handbook pages. There's no single place that tells the full story — our three pillars, what's available by region, how we invest in people. A dedicated microsite fixes that, and it's already built.
1
Candidate attraction — a shareable, branded link for job postings and LinkedIn. Candidates can explore benefits by region before they've even applied.
Why does this matter in hiring? ▾
Benefits are increasingly a primary decision factor, especially at senior levels. Having a polished, dedicated page signals investment and seriousness in a way that a bullet list in a JD never can. Sierra AI's positioning as "best tech company for parents" is a good example — benefits become a brand asset.
2
Internal comms — a single source of truth for employees across all hubs. Easy to share in onboarding, People Ops Slack, and HiBob.
3
Zero cost to build and host — created with Claude, deployed free on Cloudflare Pages. No design agency, no dev time.
How was this built? ▾
The microsite was built entirely using Claude — from the HTML and CSS to the copy and interactive features. It was then deployed to Cloudflare Pages in under a minute. The full site, including all region tabs, pillar cards, and family section, took a single afternoon. Updates can be made the same way.
perk-benefits-site.pages.dev
✦ Benefits at Perk
People thrive when they feel healthy, connected & supported.
Our benefits are built around those three beliefs.
Using AI to show employees the full value of their package — not just their salary.
The problem
Compensation sentiment is a recurring concern in Perk Voice results. Employees often don't see the full value of their package — because salary is just one part of it. Crystal Schrope raised this directly after seeing the latest results, wanting to show her US team the true value of their total package.
The opportunity
Claude makes this fast to build and easy to personalise at scale. Crystal had already been testing Claude herself and mocked up a basic example. We took that further and built three working prototypes in an afternoon — no design agency, no dev team.
Three ways we could do this
01 — Personalised PDF statement
Load comp + benefit reports into Claude to generate individual statements — one per employee — as a PDF or slide to send out at scale.
02 — Interactive online calculator
An online tool employees use themselves to see their full package value with live totals. Built and hosted in minutes.