QSR Combats High Turnover With On-Demand Pay

The Challenge:

A Benefit To Lower Operating Costs

Known for its redheaded girl logo, square burgers, and Frosty drinks, Wendy’s franchise is one of the top fast food chains in America; however, like the rest of the QSR industry, it also struggles with employee turnover rates as high as 130%.

Offering 99-cent menu options, Wendy’s keeps their menu prices low by keeping their operating costs to a minimum. JAE’s management wanted to lower their turnover rates by helping their hourly workforce with financial liquidity, but the struggle was how to do that on such razor thin margins. They needed a way to help their crew members avoid going to payday lenders without increasing operating costs. They were pleasantly surprised to find such a solution with Payactiv that could:

• Help improve the financial wellness of hourly crew members

• Lower the high turnover rates of their workforce

• Offer a benefit that will not affect the company’s operating expenses

The Solution:

More Flexibility Without Employer Cost

JAE was in the process of transitioning to a new HCM solution from ADP when they found out that some of their competitors were already offering on-demand pay to their workforce and how much it helped them with employee turnover issues. As they began to evaluate different on-demand pay providers, Payactiv really stood out, not only because of API integration with ADP, but also because of Payactiv’s unique business model. While other providers required JAE to upfront the money for on-demand pay or forced the users to access more wages than they should, Payactiv offered pre-funding and guardrails for their employees.

JAE found a solution from Payactiv for their workers’ financial liquidity by letting them access their earned wages instead of going to predatory loans and cash advance stores. This access to on-demand pay was zero cost to JAE, yet it helped them recruit and retain more employees. Payactiv actually helped save on operating costs by increasing employee recruitment and retention, especially during that first week of new hire onboarding.

Implementation

A Smooth Rollout Across Multiple Entities

JAE’s management team was concerned about how the implementation process would go given that they had multiple entities that all had to be set up and automated in the system. However, from start to finish, they were very happy with the level of support provided by Payactiv. Payactiv’s dedicated account management team ensured a smooth implementation process and was available to answer all questions—from finance and legal to technical and customer support. Payactiv provided everything needed, including training sessions and materials, to ensure easy onboarding and the program’s success.

Results

Growing Adoption and Longer Retention

JAE’s employees get paid biweekly, but because they offer Earned Wage Access through Payactiv, their employees can now access their money whenever they need it. Since implementing Payactiv, JAE has seen a significant increase in employee retention and estimates that about 50% of the users are staying longer. The number of active users continues to grow, but so far the most popular feature has been Instant Deposit, allowing their employees instant access to their wages.