Wise triggers staff backlash after cutting paid paternity leave

Money transfer firm Wise is facing uproar from staff after cutting paid paternity leave, City PM can reveal, even after its own billionaire boss took a three-month sabbatical to spend time with his newborn. 

The UK fintech reduced its paid leave for fathers and secondary caregivers earlier this month from 18 weeks to eight, in a move that has sparked fierce backlash from staff, or Wisers, as they are known internally.

Messages on Wise’s internal channel, seen by City PM, show one employee blasting Wise for prioritising the financial position of the company “over the wellbeing of their employees and family.”

“It’s very disappointing,” the Wiser added.

A source close to the company said the amount was still six weeks more than the statutory requirement. It has also expanded the eligibility to those who have been at the company for six months, up from one year previously.

In the UK, statutory paternity leave permits eligible employees to take up to two weeks of leave to care for a new child or support their partner. The rules state it must be taken in blocks of one week at a time, either consecutively or separately and completed within 52 weeks.

In another internal message, a disappointed employee hit out at Wise’s justification: “Wise was better than the market, it should be the market that changes, not Wise getting worse”.

Another employee said: “Ignoring the change itself, giving less than nine months notice is certainly a choice given the context… feel for anyone in the first trimester who had plans.” 

The move follows the company’s co-founder Kristo Kaarman taking a three-month sabbatical from his duties as chief executive in 2023 to give his wife some “breathing room” and spend time with his newborn. Employees at Wise are allowed to take sabbatical as part of its benefits program.

“I feel lucky to have this opportunity – and this is thanks to my team, who have worked alongside me for a long time,” Kaarman said at the time.

The fintech chief was the centre of heaps of praise for the move, with Pensionbee founder Romi Savova declaring other sectors should “follow suit” in Kaarman’s example for the tech industry.

The scramble to calm the wave of staff backlash comes as the fintech faces an external headache after it was revealed prosecutors in Belgium had opened an investigation into the firm over allegations its accounts had been used for criminal activity.

The firm’s stock sank on the news, with transactions within the scope said to amount to roughly €500m (£432m).

Wise’s shares are down nearly seven per cent for the year-to-date to 812.00.