Earned wage access is a ‘win-win’ for employees and employers, says one CEO

What do they want? Financial wellness! When do they want it? Now!

Earned wage access (EWA) could help make that happen. Allowing employees access to the money they’ve earned before payday may help them get ahead of bills and other expenses, not to mention alleviate financial stress that can negatively affect their mental health and productivity. And, in turn, it can help employers retain talent.

Indeed, 76% of employees surveyed by ADP between December 2021 and January 2022 said it is important that their employer offers EWA. And 93% of surveyed employers who offer EWA said doing so has positively impacted their retention rates.

Zoom in. Signal, an Omaha, Nebraska-based security company with 374 total employees, rolled out an EWA program through Immediate, an EWA vendor, in August of 2023 after hearing from its workforce that finances were a source of stress, Tony Mauro, its CEO, told HR Brew.

“Costs were going up for our staff and our team members and we were hearing from them that they needed relief in some way, shape, or form,” he said. “[EWA] became a nice [benefit] to be able to offer our staff because the matter wasn’t really their income, it was the timing of their income and when they received their income relative to when their obligations were due.”

As of February 2024, turnover among employees using EWA has been 41% less than that among those who have not used the benefit, according to data shared via email by Allison Ferrell, director of marketing at Immediate.

The bottom line? Signal’s experience with EWA seems to demonstrate the link between employees’ financial well-being and retention.

“It behooves [employers] to try to do what it can to balance the needs of the business with the needs of the employee, and work toward making sure that you create a win-win,” Mauro said. “In a competitive labor market, that becomes a competitive advantage for companies.”