Zopa allows employees to spend 120 days working abroad

Almost a year to the day since allowing employees to work abroad for 90 days, Zopa is expanding its policy to 120 days. 

The new policy comes in part of a wider expansion of company benefits, in what the digital bank is calling “the industry’s boldest and most generous scheme”.

Adapting to a post-pandemic world, Zopa says the new and extended benefits match those of the UK’s largest employers, and includes parity maternity and paternity leave, menopause support, paid bereavement leave, the option to sell annual leave and an electric vehicle scheme.

The new initiatives are being led by Helen Beurier who joined Zopa in October as the company’s first chief people officer.

“We've reviewed that policy in the context of the new normal of living with COVID and encouraging people to explore a wide range of options, in delivering their roles,” Beurier told AltFi.

“It’s still really important for us to come together and we are encouraging teams to collaborate and come together to innovate and ideate. 

“But the opportunity to live a different experience abroad, we think is part of a full and rewarding life also helps us to become more inclusive as an organisation as people go away and come back and tell us about the different cultures they've been experiencing and the different ways of working and living that they've seen.”

The 120 days puts Zopa a step ahead of Klarna, which is giving its employees up to 20 days a year to work abroad, Revolut, which offers 60 days working from ‘anywhere’, and GoCardless, which offers a 90-day allowance.

Other companies such as like Atom Bank are exploring the possibility of a four day week, though none have yet gone as far as four full months of travel.

With flexible work options even before the pandemic, Zopa now only requires employees to come into the office for a minimum average of one day a week, though this can be spread out across the month.

“I think there is no distinction anymore between work and life,” Beurier said.

“And we definitely want to create in Zopa an experience where that boundary between professional and personal is more blended, and people have the chance to experience different learning and growth opportunities and all their forms.”

The new benefits come in after a busy few months for Zopa, which hit profitability in April, just 21 months after getting its banking licence and has surpassed £1.5bn in loans with c.250,000 credit cards issued.