Providing fair and safe access to money for hospitality staff

The cost of living is rising rapidly across the globe. As a result, employees need a safe, reliable and easy way to access money when needed, and this is a challenge faced by many hospitality businesses. This article tells the story of how Orka Pay, an innovative WorkerTech product, supports one of its customers by providing employees with a fast, safe and secure way to access their earned wages, helps them attract and retain talent and increases productivity at work. 

A historic business with a modern approach 

Stepping Stones Leisure is an ambitious business in the coastal town of Ramsgate. It consists of the Royal Harbour Hotel and three restaurants: Little Ships, Travellers of Italy and their new french bistro, Madame Jeanne, which is soon to be opened. Stepping Stones Leisure can employ almost 40 people between these sites in the high season. As a busy and fast-moving business employing temporary and part-time staff, they have historically experienced challenges with people asking for salaries in advance. 

James Thomas, founder of Stepping Stones Leisure describes the former process of paying advances as involving a lot of admin, paperwork and relying on memory.

"In the past, I'm sure I've forgotten if I've lent £20 or £30 to a staff member, and I'm almost certain there were advance pay requests slipping through the cracks too. As an employer, we want to support our staff as much as possible, but it involved so much paperwork, and it was difficult to keep track of," he says. They needed a modern and automated approach. 

A shipload of paperwork 

Tim White, the Operations Manager at Little Ships restaurant, also remembers the process of paying advances as labour-heavy and describes this as a challenge faced by many hospitality businesses. 

"Casual workers can often wait more than a month for their pay packet, so, understandably, they would be asking for pay advances. We had to manage this quite tightly at the time as it involved lots of bits of paperwork and of chasing people. Orka Pay completely resolved that." says Tim. 

Tech to the rescue 

Stepping Stones Leisure accessed Orka Pay through their existing workforce management system, RotaCloud. They wanted to try the solution when they discovered it lets employees withdraw up to 50% of their earned wages. 

"When I discovered Orka Pay, it thought it looked much better than our current solution! Not only is it completely automated, but it also gives the employee the privacy to manage this on their own time and whenever they need to - at no cost to the employer," says James. 

Orka Pay allows hourly-paid staff members to access up to 50% of their own wages, where they pay a transparent fee of 2.5% on any withdrawal over £50. They don't need to involve their employer or even ask. It's available to them whenever and wherever they need it. 

Tim explains that Orka Pay has become popular as a benefit for the staff. 

"Lots of people use it. They find it useful and helpful. It removes the stigma of having to ask your employer for a loan. It's anonymous, and no one needs to know. We mention it during the recruitment process, as being able to access your money right after working a shift is quite a benefit." 

Benefits the employer 

In addition to reducing paperwork and admin for Stepping Stones Leisure, it's also been helpful to advertise during recruitment. 

"It's an incentive to prospective employees. To be able to start work on a Saturday and then be able to access it on Monday is quite an attractive benefit," says Tim. 

Stepping Stones Leisure wants to be a fair and responsible employer, so any solutions they use must be ethical, and Orka Pay fits the bill. 

"Another thing I like about Orka Pay - it's not money lending! Employees have worked the hours. The money is technically theirs - Orka Pay just allows us to process it early. It's a

much safer and more modern solution; rather than going to a loan shark, unscrupulous people or asking family members, you're accessing your own cash." 

Benefits to the employee 

Many workers in the hospitality industry wait longer in between salaries when changing jobs, and this was the case for Jamie, The Sous Chef at Little Ships. He started using Orka Pay two months ago when he started at the restaurant. 

"It's a good idea. In my case, I'd gone from a monthly to a weekly salary. Unfortunately, this meant I had to wait quite a long time for wages to come through. So it was a good, handy thing to be able to pay bills and keep on top of everything," says Jamie. 

After several years of industry experience, Jamie had never been offered a similar solution by previous employers. 

"I think many more employers should be offering solutions like Orka Pay. It's a great way of getting the money you've earnt already in advance," he says. 

New problems, new solutions 

Living is bound to become more expensive over the next year. So far, we've seen unparalleled increases in lending, overdrafts and a record drop in savings. Providing employees in the hospitality sector with a safe and easy way to access money could make a massive difference to their well-being and how they think about work. 

With solutions like Orka Pay, you can help your staff stay in control of their finances and empower them to manage their money in a way that suits their lifestyle. 

If you want to offer Orka Pay to your employees, you can find more information about its benefits. [https://www.orkapay.co.uk/employers/]