Walmart's Early Pay Perk Is Popular, But Sometimes Has a Cost

  • Keeping employees was part of the goal, but some turnover rose
  • Other employers have copied Walmart in adopting the perk

   

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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Three years ago, Walmart Inc. offered hundreds of thousands of its U.S. workers a new perk. Employees loved it. Rivals copied it. Now Walmart has reached a conclusion: It hasn’t quite worked as expected.

The perk is an app that gave employees the ability to tap their wages before payday, along with a bevy of other tools that helped them save more and forecast their earnings. It was supposed to help employees feel less stressed while boosting retention, among other benefits.