When higher wages are off the table, HR leaders turn to these strategies

A recent conference hosted by the financial wellness platform Stream brought into focus the stress workers are currently feeling with regard to their pay and finances.

“We’re in pretty tough economic circumstances right now in America, especially if you’re on a low-to-moderate income,” Stream’s chief impact officer, Emily Trant, told HR Brew ahead of the Sept. 29 FinWell conference. She referenced MIT’s Living Wage calculator, which as of February showed that no state had a minimum wage high enough in order for workers to earn a “living wage,” i.e. enough to cover a family’s basic needs.

In light of these trends, Trant said she hoped employers would consider pulling levers that would “make a difference to people, even beyond benefits.” This might include assigning more predictable hours, or taking a closer look at their compensation.

Short of raising wages, benefits leaders who attended FinWell said they’re considering paying employees more frequently, redesigning healthcare plans, and connecting them with already-available programs.

Nixing the biweekly paycheck. Stream got its start as an earned-wage access (EWA) provider, allowing employees to collect part of their earned wages ahead of a scheduled payday.

Some benefits pros who attended the conference said they were already offering or are considering EWA.

Ross Stores is looking at EWA, according to Lisa Singh, its senior benefits director. Singh said one of her previous employers offered EWA, and that she believed the offering would resonate with Ross’s hourly workers, who represent most of the employee population.

In another signal that employers are responding to workers who want to be paid more frequently, Starbucks said earlier this year it would shift from a biweekly to weekly pay schedule. Large retailers like UPS and Amazon do the same for workers in hourly roles. Even though this practice competes with EWA, Stream co-founder and CEO Portman Wills said he’s enthusiastic about the trend. “The reality is people should just be paid more frequently,” he said.

At the conference, Stream’s leaders stressed that they don’t believe EWA should be offered in a vacuum, and pitched other offerings, like workplace loans and savings accounts, as well.

Rethinking healthcare. Healthcare weighed heavily on conversations at FinWell, as employers are expected to see health costs rise by upwards of 9% next year. This has implications for both businesses and workers, given it raises the specter that the former passes on costs to the latter.

When Albertsons Companies has to make changes to its health plans as a result of cost trends, the HR team tries to ensure employees understand why, VP of benefits Jennifer Weinstein said during a FinWell panel. In these conversations, they delve into details such as the company’s overall budget and health cost trends (i.e. the amount by which costs are expected to go up).

“They may not agree with the changes that you’re making or what your benefit strategy is…but when you help people come along with the why, at least they understand,” she said.

In a follow-up conversation, Weinstein also recommended directing employees toward lower-cost healthcare options. A one-pager might offer details on “all the no-cost or low-cost benefits to someone...think about telemedicine, for example, which could be a straight copay versus going to urgent care or ER. Sometimes people just don’t know what offers and what the alternatives are,” she said.

Other HR leaders said they were considering salary-based contributions, which tie an employee’s income to their healthcare premiums.

Singh said Ross is trying to design health plans that maximize value for employees. The idea behind this is, “if you can’t raise the dollar on their pay, but if you can design a plan that…when they’re getting services, they do have some coverage that will help them financially.”

Connecting workers to what’s already available. HR pros also discussed ways to connect workers with financial benefits that are already available to workers, but may be difficult to access for whatever reason.

Tractor Supply uses a variety of different strategies to communicate with workers about benefits, former VP of total rewards Keith Brown said during a panel discussion at FinWell. “Go on the road and have sessions where you have concentrations of employees,” he recommended, noting that this worked well for Tractor Supply because it’s a retailer. “That seemed to be really helpful because then people can ask direct questions.”

Brown said Tractor Supply produced short, TikTok-style videos about benefits to share on its intranet and sent an old-fashioned newsletter to employees’ homes, as well.

Stream also has a tool that helps workers claim state benefits they might be eligible for, such as food and rental or childcare assistance, or tax credits. The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation has previously said raising awareness about government benefits and community resources can be one part of an employer strategy to improve worker financial well-being.

Stretch bonuses, when possible. Of course, higher wages aren’t always off the table, Allison Lyons, former VP of HR for Frontier Communications, said.

“Many companies are still having record profits, so some of the organizations that I work for are doing their best, even if they’re small amounts, to stretch bonuses past management, to stretch them into the frontline workers,” she observed. “$1,000 a year extra is huge for many families.”