Big Table Group has become the latest large employer to pledge its commitment as a Flexible Pay Employer, as part of a financial wellbeing programme with workplace finance provider Wagestream.
More than 20 million workers in the UK and US are now estimated to be paid flexibly – meaning they can choose how often they get paid each month. Giving workers the choice over when they get paid has been found to benefit both their short and long-term financial wellbeing.
Big Table first introduced flexible pay to colleagues at Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas in 2019, following the introduction of Wagestream – whose workplace finance app provides a range of fair financial products and services including budgeting tools, flexible pay, savings tools, money coaches and a payslip that updates after every shift.
Now, Big Table has bolstered its partnership with Wagestream by extending the service to colleagues at Banana Tree and also made the decision to introduce unrestricted usage of the flexible pay feature, with employees now able to access up to 40% of their pay throughout the month.
Nicola Liddle, Senior Client Success Manager at Wagestream explained: “Flexible pay has become part of an important toolkit for improving colleagues’ financial wellbeing – with recent research finding the financial situation of 9 in 10 people is stable or improved after switching to a flexible pay cycle, while over half said losing it would have a negative impact on their financial circumstances.”
Financial wellbeing forms a key pillar of Big Table’s overall wellbeing strategy, alongside mental health. In 2023, the Group has made mental health training mandatory for new joiners and has also committed to providing training opportunities for colleagues to become qualified Mental Health First Aiders.
Hayley Moosa, HR Director at Bella Italia, The Big Table Group, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Wagestream since May 2019. The platform is an important component of our overall Wellbeing strategy at the Big Table Group. In today’s challenging economic climate, we were keen to enhance our highly valued partnership with Wagestream so that the offering was more accessible to a greater number of our colleagues. By empowering people to get paid flexibly we hope to benefit both their immediate and long-time financial health.”