Instant Financial, the pioneer of responsible on-demand pay solutions, partnered with HR Dive’s studioID to find out how companies perceive and use earned wage access (EWA) as a benefit to attract, retain and engage employees. The study found that while many employers surveyed do offer EWA as part of their financial wellness offerings, the benefit is still underused and often misunderstood. Additionally, the survey explores some of the challenges that employers experience when implementing EWA, with roughly one-third of all respondents expressing confusion around eligibility, payroll integration, and buy-in from senior leadership.

“This survey highlights the opportunities that exist for organizations to adopt EWA, yet also brings to light how misconceptions can lead to a lack of program success,” said Tal Clark, Instant Financial CEO. “It also called attention to the need to reassure companies that, in a time when there are many platforms on the market, our responsible approach to on-demand pay is easy to implement, and fee-free for employers and employees alike.”

Additional findings from the survey include: 

• Competitive Advantage - In addition to helping companies attract, keep and motivate employees, 45% of executives said they offered the benefit to be leaders in their field and 43% said they offered it to match the EWA offerings of the competition. 
• More Than a Payday - The survey unveiled several areas where companies may be missing opportunities to optimize EWA: better linking EWA to DEI goals, addressing the perceived stigma of using the benefit among salaried employees, and better understanding the impact of EWA in the organization.
• Employer of Choice - For 71% of execs, the primary reason they don’t use EWA is that employees haven’t asked for it. But the lack of requests may mean employees are unaware of the benefit, and it could provide a significant advantage if offered. 
• Fee-Free For Everyone - HR execs are divided about who should pay for earned wage access: the employer, the employee, both or neither. Not all EWA providers offer the same fee structure, with some offering no fees to the company or workers. 
• Confusion & Uncertainty - Execs who didn’t offer it said they held off because of the following challenges: determining which employees were eligible (39%), integrating EWA into the payroll system (32%), getting senior leadership buy-in (32%), and affording it (31%).

To meet the demands of millions of employees and employers across the country, Instant offers the only on-demand pay solution that gives employees a full banking experience, free of predatory fees. With Instant, employees are able to get access to their earned wages at the end of every work day, with no cost to them or to their employers.

About the survey

In March 2023, HR Dive’s studioID surveyed 158 human resources leaders to find out how companies perceive and use earned wage access as a benefit that helps attract, retain and engage employees. Most respondents were senior leaders in HR (82%), followed by C-suite execs (9%), senior leaders in information or technology (7%), and senior leaders in finance/accounting (2%).

Most (83%) have payroll as part of their responsibilities. The majority (83%) are decision-makers for employee benefits and policies, with the remainder serving as influencers (8%), evaluators (6%) and implementers (3%).

Almost all survey participants (75%) work for companies with 1,001 to 5,000 employees. Most have full-time salaried, full-time hourly and part-time hourly employees. 

Download the complete survey results to find out how Instant’s responsible EWA solution can make you an employer of choice.