Every day can be payday at Lunds & Byerlys, as the grocer adopts one of the the latest perks to attract workers in a tight labor market.
Lunds & Byerlys this week announced a new benefit provided via Bloomington-based Ceridian that lets its employees decide when and how frequently they would like to be paid for the hours they work.
"We are excited to be among the first 100 companies in the United States to utilize Ceridian's on-demand pay feature so our team can get paid when it's most beneficial to them," said Casey Enevoldsen, vice president of employee experience at Lunds & Byerlys.
As companies struggle to find workers, some employers are looking at offering paycheck flexibility as an added perk to help recruit and retain workers.
Paycheck-advance apps popping up in recent years give workers early access to their earned wages. Some like Earnin are available for anyone to use. Others — including Branch, DailyPay, Even and Payactiv — are offered to workers through their employers.
Proponents of these services say they offer workers who live paycheck to paycheck much better alternatives to payday loans, cash advances, late payment charges and overdraft fees. Consumer advocates warn that the services should be used carefully, especially since some of them charge small fees for early transfers. Lunds & Byerlys employees will pay no fees.
Lunds & Byerlys, with headquarters in Edina, has 28 stores in the Twin Cities area and about 4,000 employees.