From recruiting and retention to company culture and the latest in HR tech, HR Brew delivers up-to-date industry news and tips to help HR pros stay nimble in today’s fast-changing business environment.

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Adam DeRose

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Payroll services report strong end-of-year performance

AI and employee-driven payroll servicing and advertising and marketing efforts drive success.

Payroll services reporting a strong end-of-year performance

Sam Blum

On-demand pay is an increasingly popular perk, but there can be downsides for employees. 

On-demand pay is becoming more popular, but it often comes with strings attached

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Payroll

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HR and payroll platform Deel last week announced a new on-demand pay solution as part of its major summer product release update.

Deel’s new Anytime Pay is available on the platform now for its employer of record (EOR) clients. Employees can access a portion of their earned pay early and on-demand without fees or approvals right inside the Deel platform. Additionally, the feature doesn’t impact a client’s payroll cycles and is available for EOR clients at no additional cost.

“The world has evolved quite a bit, but when it comes to payroll, we’re still exactly running payroll the same way we’ve had it for ages,” Deel co-founder and CEO Alex Bouaziz said. “It feels very primitive to me that we’re still [getting] paid at the end of the month.”

Bouaziz told HR Brew the company plans to expand the offering to its global payroll clients as well later this year. (Customers can also opt out of the feature.)

 that access to salary before pay day helps with financial obligations and better plan expenses.

 that earned wage access (EWA) or on-demand pay programs have increasingly become seen as a “win-win” in payroll: employees can access their money early to help with both financial planning and dealing with unplanned expenses, and—with little effort—employers can reap benefits to retention and employee well being, 

 and its multi-country payroll infrastructure gave the company the flexibility to facilitate running payroll untethered to a biweekly schedule (or simply once monthly). Employees can access up to 50% of their wages before payday using Anytime Pay.

“The idea of being able to be a blue-collar worker, where you go at the end of the day and finish your shift, press a button, [and] get paid the day after…that’s such a game changing infrastructure,” he said, adding “we’re not there yet.”

But companies with flexible pay solutions are becoming increasingly valuable to employees, and as much as 76% of employees said it was imperative their employer offer early access, according to research provided by Deel. Bouaziz said he expects on-demand pay to be a “mandatory benefit” offered by companies in the coming years.

“The flexibility we can bring to the employees…I think if you look to three years down the line, I think it’s going to be a mandatory benefit,” he said.

Deel announces new features including on-demand pay access

“It feels very primitive to me that we’re still [getting] paid at the end of the month.”

HR and payroll platform Deel announces new features including on-demand pay access

Global payroll and HR platform Deel announced Thursday during its virtual customer event several new products and features aimed at streamlining workforce management across the globe. The new tools further integrate payroll, HR, and IT functions into a single platform, targeting inefficiencies caused by fragmented systems, according to the company.

Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz told HR Brew all the company’s acquisitions and developments further the company’s journey to meet the needs of its customers while offering bundling services as a bridge between procuring fit-for-purpose tools and the benefits of an all-in-one platform.

“You could be using Deel as an HR system, but you could be using any other HR system that’s the best fit for you, and every single product that we’ve built is basically a single-product solution if you wanted or an all-in-one solution,” Bouaziz said. “We can either be a point solution: Let us run payroll for you in Australia; Let us run EOR [employer of record] for you in Nigeria; Let us be your compensation system. Let us be your ATS [applicant tracking system]…We can be that point solution for you or we can be that full-stack solution for you, and you’re going to mix and match.”

Instead of pushing customers into a closed ecosystem, Bouaziz told HR Brew its strategy is to lean into its strengths—payroll and global—and grow the suite through strategic acquisitions and development.

Deel touted rapid adoption over the last year and the company is positioning itself as the go-to provider for businesses managing international teams.

By working with founders and teams inside its recent acquisitions—five over the last year—to strengthen its product suite, Deel is leaning on the expertise and insights of founders inside markets new to Deel.

“We actually rebuild everything inside of Deel,” he said of the company’s acquisition strategy. “Whenever we make an acquisition…we’ve always acquired the team and made them rebuild everything inside of Deel…It’s a really good experience for customers, and we want them to be aware of that.”

Deel expanded its real-time payroll solution, bolstering its offerings to more than 53 markets, according to the company, and is working to expand to more than 130 markets in the next two years.

Deel also launched Deel PEO inside its platform, so customers can offer “big-company benefits, without the high costs,” as well as a new tool that allows businesses to tackle benefits administration across multiple markets, ensuring compliance and consistency across global teams.

 In addition to its payroll news, the company announced a new suite of “founder-led” solutions inside the platform including Deel Talent to source new talent inside the system; an AI-powered workforce planning solution; and Deel Compensation, a comp strategy tool integrated inside Deel’s payroll solution. The company also announced new AI tools in its engagement solution and security features to bolster its IT offerings.

product news and customer event come as Deel faces legal scrutiny after competitor 

 of stealing confidential business information by using a spy to infiltrate company systems such as Slack.

Bouaziz would not comment on ongoing litigation, but the company denied the claims in a statement. On Monday the alleged spy, Keith O’Brein, confessed in a new court filing Rippling shared with HR Brew detailing the alleged plot.

Deel touts more than half dozen new products and features at virtual event bolstering its position as go-to global payroll and HR solution

Straddling fit-for-purpose and all-in-one solutions, founder Alex Bouaziz wants customers to bundle services to meet their needs. 

An illustration of reporter Courtney Vinopal's headshot.

Courtney Vinopal

Arkansas is the latest state to regulate earned-wage access (EWA), a benefit that allows workers to tap into money they’ve earned ahead of their scheduled payday.

, which was signed into law by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Mar. 20, applies to EWA providers, but not the employers that work with them. It requires EWA providers to offer at least one option at no cost, disclose all fees associated with their services, and allow consumers to cancel the services without being charged.

EWA providers are also barred from sharing any portion of fees, tips, or gratuities with employers under the Arkansas law.

Some 12% of employers offer EWA, according to a 2023–2024 report from Sapient Insights Group, with organizations such as the 

 touting the benefit. Supporters of the benefit have suggested it can have 

 on the workforce, boosting businesses’ ability to recruit and retain talent, as well as foster loyalty among workers.

The benefit has drawn scrutiny from consumer advocates, however, due to fees that employees can incur from using the services. A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) 

 of eight companies partnering with employers on EWA found workers often incur fees to get their wages early, with more than 90% of workers paying at least one fee in 2022 when their employer didn’t cover them.

 that stipulated many EWA products fall under the Truth in Lending Act, which requires lenders to disclose charges and fees associated with a loan. Members of the fintech industry pushed back on the rule, with one EWA provider, DailyPay, arguing its offering “does not have the hallmarks of a loan,” such as origination fees, late fees, or reporting to consumer credit agencies, HR Brew previously reported.

, but it’s likely President Donald Trump’s administration will take a different approach to regulating EWA. During his first term, the CFPB issued an 

 that indicated EWA products could operate without being subject to lending laws, so long as they’re offered at no cost to employees.

 to enact legislation regulating EWA, in addition to California, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Utah’s legislature 

The Arkansas law doesn’t go as far as some other states have gone in regulating EWA; Nevada, for example, requires providers to be licensed in the state before offering EWA to residents. It also 

 EWA providers to adhere to lending laws.

DailyPay voiced support for its decision to classify the benefit as a “financial product,” rather than a type of credit. “This is a victory for businesses in Arkansas that can benefit from utilizing earned wage access solutions,” Ryan Naples, VP of public policy, said in a statement.

Legislative Lowdown recurring feature illustration

Arkansas enacts law to regulate earned wage access 

Benefits that allow workers to access their paycheck early are growing in popularity, but some consumer advocates have voiced concerns about costs employees can incur. 

Legislative lowdown: Arkansas enacts law to regulate earned wage access 

Mikaela Cohen

We’ve all fallen behind on bills. And we all know how much stress that can add to our already stressful lives.

Some employers try to help their employees through these financial hardships by offering earned-wage access (EWA), through which workers can cash out earned wages ahead of payday.

There are two types of EWA programs: direct-to-consumer and employer-sponsored, 

 to the Congressional Research Service. The former have faced 

, as they often leave workers paying high fees and earning less of their paycheck to access it, while the latter see employers cover these fees. These programs, however, are less common: Just 12% of employers offer EWA, according to a 2023 

 by Sapient Insights Group. Furthermore, the benefit is most commonly offered to hourly workers, 

 from the Harvard Kennedy School suggests.

HCM platform Dayforce offers its corporate employees advanced pay access through its consumer product Dayforce Wallet, according to the company’s chief people officer, Amy Cappellanti-Wolf. Her hope is that by offering the product as a benefit to its over 5,000 employees in the US, UK, and Canada, Dayforce can help improve their well-being.

“I can’t change the weather, I can maybe give you one of those lights that makes you feel better, but I 

 change the opportunity and access you have to your cash,” she said. “Our company has really taken an effort to systematize them, so it’s not just something you offer ad hoc, but it’s a regular way by how we run our business.”

Cappellanti-Wolf spoke with HR Brew about Dayforce Wallet and how EWA can help improve employee well-being.

Since 2020, Dayforce employees in the US have been able to collect earned wages ahead of payday, allowing a full-time worker on a biweekly pay schedule to cash out on any amount of hours worked earlier than usual. Canadian and UK employees have had access since 2021 and 2022, respectively.

While Cappellanti-Wolf has only been with Dayforce since April 2024, she said programs like EWA go a long way toward building trust between companies and their employees.

“It makes us look like we’re human, because sometimes people do have needs, and they’re afraid to express them in work, because they’re concerned they’ll look like they’re not financially and fiduciarily responsible,” she said. “But hey, we all have had those moments where we’ve spent more than we’d like to, or we need access to cash more quickly, so it has opened up for us a trust with our employees.”

Cappellanti-Wolf said she understands why some HR teams may not want “to cut an out-of-cycle paycheck,” because it requires more time and resources for payroll. She recommended HR incorporate EWA into regular operations by using a HCM or software that automatically facilitates it.

But no one benefit or perk will improve employee well-being, she said. At Dayforce, EWA, coupled with unlimited PTO, company-wide mental health days, and a remote-first culture, aim to help engagement and retention, she added.

“We’re trying to personalize what we offer to the multigenerations that we have in our workplace today, and so I think Wallet actually transcends across all of that,” she said.

Employee working at a desk on top of stacked $100 bills sitting on a large scale credit card. Credit: Illustration: Anna Kim, Photos: Adobe Stock

Dayforce offers corporate employees EWA to help improve well-being

“It makes us look like we’re human, because sometimes people do have needs, and they’re afraid to express them in work, because they’re concerned they’ll look like they’re not financially and fiduciarily responsible,” CPO Amy Cappellanti-Wolf tells HR Brew.

Beyoncé and Jay Z were both titans in their own right. Jay Z, the first hip-hop billionaire, brought us “Empire State of Mind” and “99 problems,” and I won’t even begin to try and explain the icon that is Beyoncé, a true child of destiny.

Then they got married. Their partnership gave us Tidal, 

, a combined 187 grammy nominations, and even a Blue Ivy-voiced Kiara in Disney’s new Lion King flick, 

In the world of payroll and HCM software this week, a new partnership of heavyweights was announced. Paychex, a leading payroll and HCM software company, moved to acquire Cincinnati-based rival, Paycor, for $4.1 billion.

The deal, announced Tuesday, bolsters two major providers of payroll and HCM solutions on the market. Paychex, a leader in payroll solutions for small and medium businesses, provides pay checks for one in 12 Americans in the private sector. Paycor solutions are utilized by larger enterprise clients upmarket and in recent years has worked to expand its offerings beyond payroll and finance services for HR teams, features making it alluring for an acquisition.

Paychex’s CEO and president, John Gibson Jr., called the move “a significant milestone in our journey to provide best-in-class HCM solutions to businesses of all sizes” 

“The synergies between our companies and complementary solutions we offer position us for long-term growth and deepens our commitment to helping businesses succeed. I can’t wait for this journey to begin and officially welcome the Paycor team on board,” he posted.

The sale will bring Paycor’s more than 49,000 clients servicing more than 2.7 million employees across the US to Paychex, a leader in the small- to medium-sized enterprise HCM market.

Together execs boast the sale will position the company as the “most comprehensive HCM portfolio in the industry, allowing Paychex to better meet the needs of new and existing customers across all customer segments” and the cross-sale of features from either provider.

“We are confident that our customers will benefit from the shared expertise, resources, and innovative HCM solutions of both companies to drive even greater people and business performance,” said Paycor CEO Raul Villar Jr. 

image of paychex logo on cellphone in front of backdrop that says paychex

Paychex moves to acquire Paycor

The partnership means the company will pay 13 million US employees.

An illustration of a photo of HR Brew reporter Paige McGlauflin.

Paige McGlauflin

Get ready for some hikes. No, not ones with scenic, mountain-top views—we’re talking about state minimum wages.

 their own minimum wages over the years, but as more move to do so, navigating a 

 compensation compliance landscape will become increasingly complicated for people professionals.

“I think most HR teams are used to minimum wage changes and how to react accordingly,” Erika Johnson, director of work, rewards, and career at Willis Towers Watson (WTW), told HR Brew. “But [in] the past several years, we’ve seen an uptick in the number of new minimum wage pay levels, new laws around automatic indexing, things like strategies to get to $15 an hour, those sorts of objectives.”

Some 23 states—including California, New York, and Illinois—are currently set to raise their minimum wages in 2025. Most increases are 

 on Jan. 1, though Alaska and Oregon’s wage hikes are scheduled for July 1, and Florida’s for Sept. 30. Michigan will raise its minimum wage twice next year, first on Jan. 1 to $10.56, and then on Feb. 21 to $10.61.

Ahead of these changes, compensation experts shared with HR Brew what people professionals should be aware of when navigating minimum wage increases.

When the minimum wage increases, employees in lower-earning roles may earn the same pay as what staffers in higher-earning positions earn, creating 

. This can tick off senior workers, who might feel slighted.

“Most organizations realize this, but they don’t know how to navigate the next step,” Tom Wardrip, a managing director at Gallagher’s HR and compensation consulting practice, told HR Brew. While employers’ initial reaction may be to simply increase the minimum wage of all employees, that can quickly become costly. “It’s really easy to calculate how much it’s going to cost you…the real question is, how far do you expand into the range or the different rates that people are being paid because of that?”

Wardrip recommended compressing the pay grade structure for lower-earning roles, to avoid having to hike wages across the entire company. For example, if the difference between two pay grades is 7%, reduce it to 5% to “concentrate a lot of the spend in those lower grades [and not] just run it throughout the organization.”

Similarly, Johnson said companies that standardize wages—either across the board, or based on tenure or experience—may have an easier time adjusting to minimum wage increases than those that pay employees using broader, less-defined ranges.

 Increased compensation isn’t the only cost that employers should consider with wage hikes: There may be impacts on pay-based benefits, like health insurance premiums or retirement matches. While minimum wage employees may not be eligible for some of these benefits, it's wise to assess any potential additional costs, Johnson said.

“I think it’s always a good time, especially as you’re getting close to January 1…doing a quick, compliance check, compliance review, and making sure that you have sufficient policies and practices around timekeeping and meal and rest period tracking,” she said.

 Many employers in lower-wage sectors have, in recent years, raised their own minimum wages to 

 workers amid record-high turnover. HR teams will need to stay on top of what competitors, as well as employers outside their own industry, are paying to set competitive pay rates as more job seekers 

Some local jurisdictions may also have a higher minimum wage than the state in which they’re located, which could create a ripple effect in certain regions. For example, Washington’s unincorporated King County will increase its minimum wage to $20.29 

, in an attempt to keep up with the minimum wages in neighboring cities, like Seattle, where it will 

 to $20.76 in the new year. This could impact cities outside of King County, where the state minimum wage of $16.66 will be in effect, Johnson said.

“Wages don’t really care about the border between King County and the next,” she said. “If I’m just across the line… [and] I need to attract employees, what am I going to do? So you start to see some of that ripple effect across nearby communities, not just that local, county, or city.”

image of rolled up dollar bills over and over