Staff employed at restaurant organisation Casual Dining Group (CDG), which operates 280 restaurants in the UK across brands such as Bella Italia, Las Iguanas and Café Rouge, have drawn down £902,623 since May 2019, using a new flexible pay benefit.
The financial benefit, provided by Wagestream in partnership with Fourth, was implemented for 7,000 CDG employees in May 2019 as part of the organisation’s recruitment and retention strategy, as well as to combat financial stress.
The benefit enables staff to access and draw down a percentage of their earned wages any day of the month prior to their scheduled payday for a flat fee of £1.75. The benefit is not a loan, so no interest in charged on the transaction.
Since its introduction in May 2019, 19% of CDG employees have used the Wagestream app at least once.
The introduction of the benefit was communicated to employees through an organisation-wide announcement, video content and an email campaign. There was also an on-boarding process on the Wagestream app once staff had enrolled.
The flexible pay benefit operates alongside CDG’s existing benefits package, which includes income protection and private medical insurance for staff and their immediate family.
Claire Clarke, group HR director at CDG, said: “Staff have responded enthusiastically to our partnership with Wagestream and we can see this establishing itself as a key part of our offer to candidates.
“The ability to retain staff is already paying dividends for us as a business and, if we can improve recruitment and retention, then Wagestream is a no-brainer.”