Participating companies will evaluate the financial security and health of their employees as part of a new initiative aimed at addressing the economic hardships of workers
Chipotle, Chobani, Even, Prudential Financial, Verizon, and other leading companies have joined PayPal and JUST Capital in the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative, a coalition aimed at making workers’ financial security and health a C-suite and investor priority. Research shows that improving workers’ financial wellness benefits not only workers themselves, but also business outcomes such as productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction, and employee turnover and engagement. The initiative elevates worker financial well-being as a top priority as business leaders consider solutions to shape an equitable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and take action for racial equity.
PayPal and JUST Capital, in collaboration with Financial Health Network and Good Jobs Institute, launched the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative in October 2020. Companies joining the initiative commit to conducting a financial wellness assessment of their workforce to understand their financial vulnerability and identify opportunities to improve their resilience over the long-term. Specifically, these companies will complete at least one assessment within a 12-month period, such as an employer-provided benefits assessment, an employee survey, or a living wage assessment.
“At PayPal, our employees are the most important stakeholder we serve. To have any of our colleagues live with financial insecurity is unacceptable, and we have taken action to strengthen and sustain the financial wellness of our employee community,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. “I am thrilled to welcome more leading companies to our coalition and our shared mission. Together, at a critical time in the economic recovery, we will work to make significant progress on improving the financial health and resilience of workers across the nation.”
PayPal conducted an assessment on the financial wellness of its hourly and entry-level workforce in 2018 and found that many employees were struggling to pay their bills each month despite market pay alignment. The findings propelled the company to institute several changes to improve its employees’ financial well-being, including lowering the cost of healthcare benefits, making every employee a stockholder, raising wages where appropriate, and offering new financial coaching programs. Since implementing these changes, the company has helped raise the minimum PayPal-defined estimated net disposable income for hourly and entry-level workers in the U.S. to at least 18%, making significant progress to reaching its target of 20% for all employees globally.
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“If we are going to deliver on the promise of stakeholder capitalism, we need to help more corporate leaders and investors understand that employees are a company’s most valuable asset, and that investing in their well-being will drive long-term financial success,” said Martin Whittaker, CEO, JUST Capital. “Through the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative, we’ll continue to build the growing body of evidence demonstrating the connection between the financial security of a company’s workforce and their overall business performance, and refute the anachronistic Wall Street narrative that raising wages destroys value.”
Participants in the initiative will have access to quarterly webinars highlighting company best practices, resources on how to develop and deploy financial wellness assessments, and private roundtable conversations with C-suite leaders. Companies interested in more specialized tools and resources can receive tailored recommendations from initiative partners based on their assessment results, as well as enhanced peer learning workshops for HR teams who are executing assessments. The partner organizations will also continue to share case studies, business case analysis, and best practice insights to help educate, inform, and catalyze the wider business community. With the first cohort representing approximately 260,000 American workers across a range of industries, the program presents a unique opportunity to demonstrate what companies can accomplish when they come together with a shared goal of improving the financial health and resilience of workers across the nation.
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