Clipper Logistics is offering all its staff the ability to access their pay ahead of pay day in what it claims is an industry first.

The move to offer flexible pay and break out of the locked pay cycle is part of the company’s major push to improve the financial wellbeing of Clipper’s workforce. The logistics giant will be one of the first employers to offer flexible pay, which is also known as Earned Wage Access (EWA).

Under the scheme staff are offered flexible access to wages already earned and owed, throughout the month. It replaces the extended, locked pay cycle concept, created in the 1960s as banking infrastructure evolved and processing fees became expensive for employers and banking providers.

Clipper employees will be able to access EWA via Wagestream, a charity-backed service which also provides smart budgeting, savings and education via one app.

To date, over half a million workers have access to Wagestream, through employers including Bupa, Co-op, Pizza Hut, Holiday Inn, Halfords, David Lloyd, Virgin Care and the NHS.

Clipper Logistics points to recent research by social impact research firm 60 Decibels and Wagestream which has shown that 77% of employees able to access EWA see reduced stress levels, with 72% improving their financial confidence and 55% seeing improved budgeting. EWA also gets a thumbs up from workers with 89% saying it is better than any alternative and 72% saying it helps increase quality of life.

Nicholas Beadle, Clipper Logistics HR operations director, said: “Giving people a fair chance, and empowering them to fulfil their potential, has been core to our continued growth, at Clipper - from the various Clipper apprenticeship schemes, to our multi-award winning Fresh Start Programme.

“That’s why we’re partnering with Wagestream and rolling out a financial wellbeing programme that’s backed by leading charities and proven by data to improve quality of life. We’re proud to be the first logistics organisation taking this step and hope to see our industry peers follow suit in the future.”

Peter Briffett, chief executive and co-founder at Wagestream, added: “Financial stress is an invisible, urgent problem for working adults: 8 in 10 bring financial stress with them to work, and more than half say it’s their employer’s responsibility to help. Clipper is truly leading the way for the logistics sector, by tackling this with our carefully managed financial wellbeing programme and the guidance of our charity partners. The data now shows that employers doing this are not just modernising their pay cycle and ticking a box - they are changing lives for the better.”

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