PayPal and JUST Capital lead campaign to improve financial health of US’ Workforce
Participating companies in PayPal and JUST Capital’s initiative will evaluate their employees’ financial security and health 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 to make 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 workers financial well-being as a top priority. Business leaders consider solutions to shape an equitable and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and take action for racial equity.
PayPal andJUST Capital, in collaboration with financial Health networks 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 12 months, such as an employer-provided benefits assessment, an employee survey, or a living wage assessment.
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“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.
“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 developing and deploying financial wellness assessments, and private roundtable conversations with C-suite leaders. In addition, companies interested in more specialised tools and resources can receive tailored recommendations from initiative partners based on their assessment results and enhanced peer-learning workshops for HR teams who are executing assessments. The partner organisations will also continue to share case studies, business case analysis, and best practice insights to help educate, inform, and catalyse 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.
Companies interested in joining the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative can visithttps://justcapital.com/reports/worker-financial-wellness-initiative/.
“Employees are the cornerstone of any growth business,” said Hans Vestberg, chairman & CEO, Verizon. “As one of our four key stakeholders, investing in our V Team and their financial well-being is critical to our future.”
“Organisations spend millions on employee benefits, but most are not yet measuring the financial health impact of those offerings and programs on employees’ financial lives,” said Jennifer Tescher, president and CEO, Financial Health Network. “What gets measured, gets managed so we’re thrilled that Chipotle, Chobani, Even, Prudential Financial, and Verizon have committed to collecting the data that will help them truly understand and improve the financial health of their workforce.”
About PayPal
PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform is empowering more than 375 million consumer and merchant accounts in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. For more information, visit paypal.com.
About JUST Capital
The mission of JUST Capital, an independent nonprofit, is to build an economy that works for all Americans by helping companies improve how they serve all their stakeholders – workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders. We believe that business and markets can and must be a greater force for good. By shifting the resources of the US$19trn private sectors, we can address systemic issues at scale, including income inequality and lack of opportunity. Guided by the public’s priorities, our research, rankings, indexes, and data-driven tools help measure and improve corporate performance in the stakeholder economy. To learn more about how data-driven insights are creating a more just future for capitalism, visitwww.JUSTCapital.com.
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About the Financial Health Network
The Financial Health Network is the leading authority on financial health. We are a trusted resource for business leaders, policymakers and innovators united in a mission to improve the financial health of their customers, employees and communities. Through research, advisory services, measurement tools, and opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, we advance awareness, understanding, and proven best practices in support of improved financial health for all. For more on the Financial Health Network, go towww.finhealthnetwork.org.
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