Independent grocery chain Supabarn is offering workers immediate access to their earned wages and is believed to be the first supermarkets in Australia to do so.
Utilising payroll technology platform Paytime, employees are able to access a portion of their earned pay before pay day.
Supabarn owner Theo Koundouris says offering staff access to their earned wages helped attract talent and has seen quick uptake.
“It’s been hard to find staff with the absence of international student and visa holders the past few years. Now we’re looking for new, innovative ways of doing things to attract and retain our staff,” he says.
“Half of our employees live paycheck to paycheck. In the first week we introduced it we had a huge uptake and very positive feedback.”
Surge in interest for pay flexibility
Paytime provides businesses with a free technology platform that allows employees the ability to access a portion of their earned pay at any time during the month. It plugs seamlessly into the company’s payroll software and accesses real-time information.
Over the past four months, Paytime has seen a 600 per cent surge in enquiries for its offering.
Steven Furman, Founder and CEO of Paytime says on-demand wage access is already commonplace in the US and UK retail industries, with stores like Foot Locker, KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and many more, offering it to their staff.
“The days of employees having to wait for a fixed payday is quickly becoming redundant,” he says.
“Like having flexibility around work from home, employees, and especially millennials are demanding a solution that allows them to access a portion of their earned pay at anytime in the month.
“Its important that companies are aware that our solution is not a loan whatsoever, we are simply allowing staff to access what they have already earned,” Mr Furman said.
Benefits of flexibility
A recent report from research house RFI Global surveyed more than 1000 Australian workers, across retail, education, healthcare, manufacturing, mining and hospitality. It found that 81% would like to have the opportunity to access their earned pay before payday.
According to Paytime, benefits of on-demand wage access include:
- Protecting staff for unexpected expenses: reducing reliance on credit cards, personal loans or payday loans.
- Attracting and retaining staff: employees now want access to what is already theirs.
- Loyalty to the company: improves when staff feel that the company they work for wants the best for them
The paytime platform easily integrates with Payroll and Timekeeping systems utilising Application Programming Interface (API). Employees can typically withdraw 50-70% of their earned pay and it is received within minutes into their bank account.
The solution is offered for free to the company (no implementation fee and no ongoing fees whatsoever). A small fixed withdrawal fee (equivalent to ATM fee), regardless of amount accessed, with no other fees and charges, is payable by the employee.