Offering payroll loans “is not viewed as encouraging debt”

At Sunrise Senior Living, a private healthcare company, we aim to be the employer of choice by differentiating ourselves from our competitors by using benefits to attract, engage and retain talent.

With more than 5,000 team members spread across 47 locations in the UK, 90 percent of our staff are paid hourly and the majority are on low wages. Therefore, it’s important for our workforce to see the value in their work and recognise that they work for a company that values and supports their individual needs and wellbeing.

Supporting this is our benefits package, which includes a range of offerings to support our employees’ financial wellbeing. These options include:

• Free 24/7 access to an Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP);
• An internal financial hardship fund called the Good Samaritan Fund, where employees facing severe financial hardship can apply for assistance.
• External assistance through The Care Workers’ Charity: an external charity that Sunrise Senior Living forms part of a Supporter’s Club. Any worker, or former worker, of the UK care industry can gain support through the access to grants and information on welfare benefits.
• Financial education, including financial health checks and support with budgeting and financial forecasting;
• Payroll loans facilitated through a third party.

Financial wellbeing and the control employees have over their own finances is of importance to our company and its employees. External research shows that around two thirds of UK employees currently experience money worries. These financial worries can impact individuals’ physical and mental wellbeing through lack of sleep and increased stress levels which in turn can effect their ability to perform in the workplace.

Given the above reasons, we have a partnership with a third party supplier to support financial wellbeing in the workplace with access to affordable, salary-deducted loans in connection with financial education resources.

The idea is to build a community of employees who can confidently deal with money and have access to fairer finance when they need it. Our provider offers access to a variety of loan types to tailor employee’s individual financial needs.

A recent statistic stated wildly varying interest rates on unsecured loans ranging from five percent to 36 percent. By working with a third party provider we are able to facilitate access for employees to loans with fair interest rates, in a timely manner - with applications being processed within 24 hours.

This is not viewed as encouraging debt, most applications are for debt consolidation therefore benefitting from a reduction in monthly debt repayments, this can help employees be better with their money and support financial wellbeing in the workplace.