The launch of ‘on-demand pay’ in Australia means employees of businesses who have signed up for this platform will be able to withdraw a portion of their income outside of their pay cycle, accessing their income as they earn it.

Created to help support the 2.44 million Australians struggling to cope with unexpected costs and those living paycheck to paycheck, due to the high cost of living. With the financial stress of this believed to be costing businesses $31.1 billion a year according to AMP.

This flexible pay will enable employees to set their own personalised on-demand pay day to meet their bills, housing costs and personal goals.

Ascender, a human resource and payroll software and services provider, announced it has entered into a partnership with Earnd, a flexible pay provider.

The new partnership will see more than 700,000 Australian employees who use Ascender’s payroll platform gain the ability to access their income as soon as they earn it. Earnd and Ascender also plan to expand this offering to Ascender’s client base of over 1.3m employees.

Financial wellness is believed to play a role in the productivity and engagement of employees, with studies highlighting how financial stress can impact an organisation’s bottom line. Recent research from AMP estimated the cost of employee financial stress on Australian businesses to be over $31 billion annually.

Ascender CEO Andrew Wilson said on demand pay would help businesses improve employee engagement, create a significant increase in productivity and have a positive impact on staff retention.

“Employees and contractors are expecting more flexibility in all aspects of their work, whether it be flexibility in roles, hours, location or how they are paid,” Mr Wilson said.

“This new partnership will give employees the flexibility to draw on a portion of their wages whenever they need to, for example to cover an important bill.

“We believe this will drive a fundamental shift in how people work, allowing businesses to keep pace with the changing requirements in the labour market and unlock the full potential of their workforce.”

Ascender and Earnd finalised the agreement in late May, with early access payroll being rolled out in the Australian market before being introduced to the wider market.