F.A.Q. for Employers

Companies offer employee benefits to keep their staff healthy and happy, as healthy, happy employees are generally the most productive. A solid package also helps businesses recruit and retain good workers. Most companies review their benefits packages annually, and savvy benefits/HR professionals are always on the look-out for new services and programs to offer to their valuable employees while increasing their company's recruitment and retention leverage. FinFit fits that bill, and has the added feature of costing NOTHING for a business to implement and maintain.

Absolutely. The program was designed to offer credit to employees who may not have affordable "cash-emergency" options elsewhere. Our experience has taught us some things about successful short-term loans:

1. Employees who turnover, or job-hop, may not be successful with this type of loan. Therefore, we offer this product only to your employees who have been with you in a full-time capacity for six months or longer.
2. Employees should not borrow more than HALF of their Gross Monthly Income (GMI), if they have a CHECKING account. Employees with Savings accounts, loadable debit cards or no banking account at all can request up to 25% of their GMI. Requesting loans in higher amounts may injure an employee's ability to repay comfortably, so we do not allow it.
3. Employees earning less than $10.00 per hour or $20,800 annually may not be able to reasonably afford a FinFit loan, so we recommend not lending to employees earning less than those amounts.²
4. Employees need payments to be low enough as to not affect their lifestyle, so we extend payments over 10 bi-weekly/semi-monthly checks, or 20 weekly checks, depending on the company's pay cycle, to allow for comfortable payment amounts.
5. Employees who are being garnished do not qualify for a FinFit loan. Lending to garnished employees may limit their already decreased cash-flow beyond what is reasonable.

These five criteria qualify the FinFit program as a true employee benefit, and offer the safeguards needed to ensure healthy borrowing behavior.

No. We never run credit checks on employees. As long as they meet our three eligibility requirements, they can receive a FinFit loan.

Not necessarily. Employee eligibility guidelines are set by employers. The FinFit program will work best for employees who are making at least $10 per hour ($20,800 per year), have been working for you in a full-time capacity for at least six months, and are not being garnished.

The requirements are customizable to your company. FinFit recommends the following to ensure successful loans for your employees:

There is no direct program cost or financial risk to the employer for this service. We provide all funds for loans directly to employees. ¹

There is no financial risk to your business. Our loans are issued directly to employees and they hold total responsibility for repayment. If we extend a loan to one of your employees and they leave employment before satisfying their loan, we will handle continued payments with the exiting employee directly - your business is not liable for unpaid loans.

No. Our Employee Support Team will contact your former employee directly and arrange a repayment schedule that works for their individual situation. We will never request funds from you that you have not withheld from the employee.

We offer loans from $500 to $5,000. Employers can narrow that range at their discretion. Generally, the maximum loan amount equals half of an employee's gross monthly income (GMI) if they have a checking account, or 25% of their GMI if they do not have a checking account. This limit is set to create a successful, affordable repayment schedule.

Funds are generally received within one to two business days from the time a request is made and approved. Funds are delivered directly to the employee's bank account, or are delivered by check if they do not have a bank account.

The loan term is extended in order to keep payments low. Employees may make additional payments or pay off their loan at any time with no penalty. Depending on the employee's pay schedule, payments will be made in ten to twenty consecutive pay periods through a payroll-deduct process.

There are two tasks that must be completed for a loan transaction, but they require very little time on the part of company staff. The first task is verifying employment & income, the second is entering the payroll deductions.

Both tasks are modified on a business-by-business basis. We will merge our invoice schedule with your pay cycle to make the tracking of funds and payment of invoices a simple process for your business. Invoices are sent nine days prior to payday, then again six days prior to payday as a reminder. Companies can view their current and past invoices online, 24/7.

WorkersChoiceUSA will track all loans and provide a utilization report and invoice to you via email every pay period. In addition, you can access your verification and invoice history online at any time.

Yes! We have full-time staff members with solid HR/Payroll backgrounds available to assist you with every step of the FinFit program.

Have you been fielding requests for loans from your retirement plan (401k, 403b, etc.)? How about employees asking for salary advances?

To meet their short-term cash needs, American workers are borrowing from their retirement accounts in high volume, a risky practice that is dangerous to their long-term financial health. They are also getting payday loans from walk-in consumer lending businesses, cash advances on their credit cards, or funds from any number of other expensive sources. The cost for these services, however, can be devastating, and mismanaging payments to any one of these sources can have long-term negative effects on credit ratings, financial well-being, and work performance. Nevertheless, without alternatives employees still use these options.

By offering the FinFit program to your staff, you eliminate their need to pay higher costs elsewhere, or to borrow from their 401(k) plan. You also bypass any risk from running an internal loan program, and you won't have to deny advance or loan requests anymore - just send them to us!

We are glad you asked. Studies indicate the best way to improve employee financial health is through a three-pronged approach.

1. Provide employees with financial education. FinFit is currently producing an online tutorial that gives employees information and downloads about personal budgets, checking account management, growing savings accounts from scratch, and credit-repair procedures. This program will be available free of charge to all employees of enrolled companies, as well as their family members.
2. Provide employees with financial advising services. If your company offers employees a retirement plan, chances are the company holding your plan will provide on-site or telephone advisors to discuss your employee's individual situation with them. Employee Assistance Plans are also a good advisory resource. Depending on your plan, employees may receive referrals to certified planners, mortgage resources, and advisors to help manage debt or plan for future expenses (education, retirement, etc).
3. Provide employees with financial services. Provide employees with opportunities to get more by spending less. Group discounts to anything, online payroll-deduct buying programs for consumer goods, tuition reimbursement possibilities, assistance with HDHP costs, mortgage services, debt-counseling and, of course, a source for short-term, low-cost employee loans.

We offer substantially low interest rates and fees compared to other sources. Rates and fees differ from state to state. Our program is designed to keeps costs as low as possible. We keep our term short (about five months) and have many safeguards in place to ensure healthy borrowing behavior. Our representatives will review the program in your state with you in detail.

Employees have 24/7 access to our online "Payment Estimator." They can enter their name, state, employer and pay rate and determine how much they are eligible to request, when their repayments would begin, and how much their payments will be. This can be done BEFORE they request a loan.

We ask that you sign an Administrative Services Agreement (ASA). The ASA is not a contract – it is simply a service agreement between you and FinFit. The heart of the agreement states the program is completely voluntary, there are no costs or risks to you as an employer, you can withdrawal from the program at any time, you are never liable for funds that you are unable to collect from employees' incomes, and that you agree to forward any funds withheld from employee wages on behalf of FinFit to us. The agreement appears at the end of your online enrollment process.

You never have a cost for orientation materials – we provide them free of charge. We can prepare a professional email blast for you to send to your workers. We also provide brochures, wallet cards, color posters and paycheck stuffers – any or all of these are available at your request for no charge. We will contact you after you enroll to design a roll-out plan for your organization.

The enrollment process is simple and done entirely online. It should take you less than five minutes. Go to our website, www.workerschoiceusa.com and click "Employers Login" at the top, right of your screen. Click "New Employers Enroll Here" and enter all requested information. Sign the Administrative Services Agreement at the end of the enrollment process and you're done! A representative from our office will contact you to determine the correct employee orientation materials needed to announce the benefit to your staff.