Skanska is to offer its employees a cheaper alternative to payday loans as part of a package of new financial benefits.
The contractor has teamed up with lender Salary Finance to offer a range of measures to help employees with their finances, including:
- Affordable loans: an alternative to payday loans and other high-cost credit, charging a fixed rate of 7.9% APR;
- Advances on earned pay: provides access to some earned pay ahead of employees’ regular pay date to avoid relying on overdrafts or credit cards;
- Simple savings: allowing deposits to be made into a savings account direct from pay;
- Help to Save: a government-backed scheme with bonus payments on savings of up to 50p for every £1 saved;
- Free financial education: a financial education hub with resources to help develop financial wellbeing.
The new package of benefits follows Skanska UK’s recent investment of £1m in cost-of-living support. This enabled Skanska to make one-off payments of £750 to around 1,300 Skanska employees.
Executive vice-president Harvey Francis said: “As a values and purpose-led business, we want to do everything we can to support our people during what is a very challenging period for many households.
“Our financial health is a vital part of our wellbeing. Unfortunately, most of us worry about money at some point in our lives, but recent increases to the cost of living have made financial concerns a key consideration for many more of us.”
