United Kingdom: app allows employees to get paid when they want

Launched in January 2018, the Wagestream application allows employees to receive a percentage of their earned wages when they want, before their routine pay date. The creators of the application say that, in February 2019, more than 40,000 people in the UK had access to the so-called ‘Get-Paid-As-You-Go’ system. Its aim is to alleviate end-of-the-month stress for workers and to provide support for when they take a financial hit, at a time when monthly payment of wages is commonplace. These are plus points that nonetheless do not convince the entire sphere of human resources.
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In practice, Wagestream allows workers to take home a percentage of their wages – a proportion established by their company and rarely above 50% of pay – ahead of their usual pay date. Employees pay £1.75 (€2.05) each for the service, while companies pay a monthly subscription of 50p (€0.58) per person. At the end of the month, workers are paid their normal wage, minus what they’ve already claimed. Peter Briffett, chief executive and co-founder of Wagestream, says: “By tackling the outdated...

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