Burger King, Popeyes Leader Drops Old EWA Provider After Headaches, Finds Tapcheck
A home health franchise wanted to bring the best possible on-demand pay benefits to their employees. But a brief experience with a competitor went awry, and their employees demanded a return to Tapcheck.
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"Everyone in HR and Payroll is so much happier with Tapcheck, so much happier as far as the employees go. I got an email from an employee that used it for gas to get to work -- just a quick example of somebody that needed it, using it."
Background
Ghai Management is one of the most successful QSR franchises in California, operating more than 200 restaurants and employing over 5,000 people. Since they offer competitive wages and a strong benefits package, the Ghai team isn’t struggling to hire staff like they used to. But problems with a previous EWA provider threatened to erode the hard-earned goodwill with their employees.
Ghai Management Services
200
Quick-serve restaurants
Alliance®
5,200
Ghai Management Services didn’t always have thousands of employees across more than two hundred stores. It all started with a single Burger King restaurant in 1999, when Sunny Ghai purchased his first outpost in San Jose, California.
Since then, the company has expanded to cover Burger King, Taco Bell, and Popeyes locations across California, Oregon, and Washington. This tremendous growth was recognized in 2019 and 2023, when Ghai Management was awarded Burger King's Global Franchisee of the Year.
To support this growth, the Ghai Management team needed to employ a small army of fry cooks, shift managers, and drive-thru attendants, all while they dealt with typical employee turnover found in quick-serve restaurants.
Problems with Old Provider
To maintain their position as an employer of choice, Ghai Management has built a robust benefits package that includes management trainings, English-language workshops, and earned wage access. Even as the fast-food minimum wage in California rose to $20 per hour, the Ghai team saw strong interest and usage of the EWA benefit.
But their previous earned wage access provider seemed to create more problems than it solved.
“It was a horrible experience,” says Jennifer Frick, Vice President of HR for Ghai Management. “Our employees loved the program, but we had issues. Only about half of our employees were actually able to use the system in the six months that we had it.”
The primary issue stemmed from how the provider handled employee wages. They didn’t provide paystubs with itemized deductions, so employees weren’t always aware of why their check was lighter than they expected. Adhering to California’s immediate payout laws upon termination was also made difficult with the other provider.
“[They asked] why is my is my paycheck short? And they didn't understand. We're in California, an immediate payout state, and they created some issues with the way they process [payouts]. Our employees got very, very frustrated with it.
“It was kind of just an awful experience for us.”
Finding Tapcheck
Earned wage access has become a popular and sought-after benefit in the QSR industry, where many workers live paycheck-to-paycheck. Ghai's previous EWA provider came advertised as a solution that worked well with California law, but the headaches they created gave the team a reason to see what else was out there.
After an easy integration of Tapcheck into Ghai Management’s HRIS platform, Alliance, employees are taking advantage. 69% of Ghai employees registered with Tapcheck are transferring at least once per month.
“Everyone in HR and Payroll is so much happier with Tapcheck; so much happier as far as the employees go.”
In 2024, Ghai Management has seen their turnover levels fall well below the industry average. What was 150% turnover in 2022 has dropped to just 50% turnover by 2024, a huge swing in retention that’s largely due to the increase in minimum wage in California and elsewhere. But playing a major part is the robust benefits package they offer, with EWA playing a key role before and after the wage increase took effect.
“It wasn’t always easy to hire [in this industry],” explains Jennifer. “That’s why we wanted to bring it on. Even now, with everyone paying the same, it’s something else we can offer to help retention and engagement."
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