The no-worker-fee model
What free earned-wage access actually means
Your team reaches wages they've already earned and pays nothing to do it: no interest, no per-draw fee, no charge to get the money faster. Here's how the model works, and how the cost is handled.
Definition
What a no-worker-fee model means in practice
In practice, a worker draws part of the wages they've already earned, up to a cap their employer sets, paid by Faster Payments - typically within seconds. The worker pays nothing to do it.
It's free to the worker because the cost sits with the employer, not the person reaching their own pay. The draw is recorded against the worker and the pay period, then recovered from the next payslip - just the amount drawn, nothing added.
"Your own earned wages" holds only while a draw stays within wages already earned. The cap is the safeguard that keeps it there.
Plainly
What the no-worker-fee model does and doesn't mean
What it means
- The worker pays nothing to reach wages they've already earned.
- Up to a cap the employer sets on wages already earned.
- Paid by Faster Payments - typically within seconds.
- Recovered from the next payslip - just the amount drawn, nothing added.
What it doesn't mean
- Not an advance on pay that hasn't been earned yet.
- Not "free only if you wait, with a fee to get it faster".
- Not a promise that it has no effect on your cash flow. The timing of when cash leaves shifts.
- Not a loan, and not credit.
The field
Where the worker fee comes from
Most UK earned-wage access providers charge the worker a per-draw fee, or do not publish what the worker pays. The mechanism is usually the same: the provider fronts the cash, then recovers it, plus the worker's fee, at payroll. So the cost lands on the person reaching pay they've already earned.
Fee levels and terms change, so check each provider's current published terms. The provider comparison stays at this level deliberately: who pays, who funds the advance, and who sets the cap.
How a small fixed fee adds up
The FCA has noted that repeat use of a fixed fee can make the effective cost behave like a high rate of interest. That's a conditional, illustrative risk the regulator has raised, not a finding about any one provider.
There is a wage-floor angle for employers too: a worker fee recovered through payroll can drag effective pay below the National Minimum Wage. A no-worker-fee model removes the EWA-fee-driven NMW risk.
The mechanism
How a no-worker-fee model removes the fee
Three steps, one reconciliation, nothing added.
The draw
The worker draws wages they've already earned, up to the cap their employer sets.
The record
Each draw is logged against the worker and the pay period.
The recovery
Just the amount drawn comes back at payroll - nothing added.
deduction file feeds payroll · just the amount drawn, no worker fee
Because the employer covers the cost and there's no worker fee to compound, the FCA fee-cap concern doesn't arise in this model. That's a reasonable read of a no-fee structure, not an FCA ruling.
What this means for your cash flow
You cover each draw before payday and recover it from the next payslip. The timing of when cash leaves shifts by a few days. We don't claim it has no effect on your cash flow.
FAQ