Holland & Barrett has launched an Earned Wage Access (EWA) service to give colleagues access to their earned wages whenever they need them.

Partnering with Wagestream, the health and wellness retailer is offering the service to its 5,000 UK colleagues to help bolster their financial resilience.

The platform will give the firm’s colleagues instant access to a percentage of their earned pay any day of the month. They will also have access to a range of financial education tools provided by the app.

EWA should reduce the financial anxiety and stress associated with unexpected expenses, a situation that can be exacerbated by the monthly pay cycle. By giving workers access to money they have already earned, they are less likely to need to rely on expensive forms of credit and fall into debt.

Every time a colleague ‘streams’ some of their earned pay into their bank account, they pay a flat fee of £1.75. There are no loans involved and therefore no interest.

A key advantage for employers is that the facility doesn’t impact the cash flow of the business - so wages are paid by the employer as normal at the end of the month. For those firms who offer shift work, another immediate benefit is that it becomes easier to fill rotas, because instant access to their pay restores the direct connection between work and reward.

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