UK 
United States
While we’re slightly reluctant to say it in November, Christmas is just around the corner. This time of year brings festive cheer in the form of many additional job opportunities for deskless staff, particularly in retail and hospitality. Yet it also brings increased financial pressures – now more so than ever, as households across the UK worry about rising interest rates and spiralling energy costs.
As workers seek new and seasonal roles to help ease some of the financial burden, it makes sense that companies offering higher salaries will be the ones inundated with job applications.
However, there’s now another financial benefit that organisations can utilise to attract staff: Earned Wage Access (EWA).
What is Earned Wage Access?
Earned Wage Access gives employees the ability to withdraw some of the money earned from shifts that they have already completed, ahead of pay day.
Using a system like Mysaly, which is supported by Quinyx, employees can access the service via an app on their phone, transferring their wages to their bank account at the touch of a button – this can be as early as the minute they’ve finished their shift.
Employers can manage both the percentage of their wages that workers can withdraw, and the number of times per month they can use the service.
Money is paid to the employee from Mysaly, ensuring no impact on business accounts until the end of the month, when the money is returned to Mysaly – and there’s no extra admin time either.
Three key reasons to use Mysaly/EWA in the lead-up to Christmas
1. It offers an alternative financial incentive to help attract and retain talent.
The current economic climate means it’s not always going to be possible for organisations to offer the most competitive wages on the market.
Through the Mysaly app, hourly-paid employees can get hold of the money they’ve earned almost as soon as their shifts are finished. No more waiting weeks, or even months, for payday – just easy access to wages. And unlike payday loans, there are no charges, and no hassle or stress either.
Since its launch in Sweden in 2020, employers using Mysaly say the service is helping to attract and retain great people within their teams, and that workers are more motivated to work additional shifts.
2. It can boost ‘geographical productivity’
Existing Mysaly users say they’ve seen an increase in ‘geographical productivity’ – where a business has multiple sites in one town or city, they’ve found that workers are more likely to accept additional shifts not just at the site that they normally work at, but also at sites located further away. This is particularly true on weekends, when earning – and accessing - more money is important for families and individuals, and it’s likely we’ll see similar patterns in the lead-up to Christmas.
3. It can create a happier, less stressed workforce
EWA can help to reduce employees’ financial stress - when an emergency or unexpected cost arises, users don’t have the worry of waiting until payday, or alternatively having to rely on payday loans with sky-high interest rates.
Setting a limit to how much can be withdrawn prevents employees’ personal finances from becoming unbalanced – removing the risk of overreliance on ‘next month’s wages’. The app also includes information and advice on managing finances and saving money.
