Overview
Have questions about Clair and On-Demand Pay? This article covers a lot of the commonly asked questions about both.
On-Demand Pay 101
| What is On-Demand Pay? |
| On-demand pay means employees can gain access to a portion of their wages as they’re earned, instead of having to wait until payday. When I Work teamed up with Clair to provide this benefit at no cost to employers and with fee-free and instant options for employees. |
| How are on-demand pay and payday loan different? |
| Clair provides a wage advance benefit for employees.¹ While payday loans often charge high-interest fees for accessing cash before payday, Clair offers employees flexible options to access their pay fee-free or instantly. |
| How does the wage advance process work? |
| Clair secures the capital for advances so users are able to take an advance when they need it. After requesting an advance in the Clair or When I Work app, users will instantly see it in the account they set up through Clair. When they receive their paycheck, the amount advanced is automatically subtracted from the total to ensure no one is under or overpaid. |
| How are When I Work and Clair connected? |
| When I Work built an integration with Clair to push attendance data on time entries and available wage data. Clair uses this data to calculate the amount available to the user as on-demand pay. |
| What is Clair? |
| Clair is a New York-based mission-driven financial technology company that is breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle by offering flexible on-demand pay to America’s workforce. Clair gives employees control over when they get paid and aims to bring financial freedom to all Americans. |
| How does Clair make money? |
| Clair’s core business model is built on interchange fees. When employees buy things with their Clair Debit Mastercard®, Clair receives a percentage of the processing fees. Clair also earns revenue when employees choose to use a feature that incurs a fee. |
| Will Clair On-Demand Pay access or change my payroll process? |
| No, Clair On-Demand Pay has no impact on your current payroll processes. Employees must update their direct deposit to Clair to access their wages early fee-free. When the employee’s regular paycheck hits, Clair deducts any money advanced. The wage advance happens between the employee and Clair, without involvement or impact to your payroll process. |
| Will Clair On-Demand Pay impact my cash flow? |
| Clair On-Demand Pay will not affect your business’ cash flow. Clair allows your employees to advance their earned wages relieving you of dealing with any employee early pay requests. |
| What are the risks and liability of offering Clair On-Demand Pay to my employees? |
| Clair takes on all risk and liability. When you make changes to your employees’ shift schedule, any changes will automatically sync with Clair. If the employee already advanced their pay, Clair will bear that risk entirely. |
| Question | Answer |
| What is On-Demand Pay? | On-demand pay means employees can gain access to a portion of their wages as they’re earned, instead of having to wait until payday. When I Work teamed up with Clair to provide this benefit at no cost to employers and with fee-free and instant options for employees. |
| How are on-demand pay and payday loan different? | Clair provides a wage advance benefit for employees.¹ While payday loans often charge high-interest fees for accessing cash before payday, Clair offers employees flexible options to access their pay fee-free or instantly. |
| How does the wage advance process work? | Clair secures the capital for advances so users are able to take an advance when they need it. After requesting an advance in the Clair or When I Work app, users will instantly see it in the account they set up through Clair. When they receive their paycheck, the amount advanced is automatically subtracted from the total to ensure no one is under or overpaid. |
| How are When I Work and Clair connected? | When I Work built an integration with Clair to push attendance data on time entries and available wage data. Clair uses this data to calculate the amount available to the user as on-demand pay. |
| What is Clair? | Clair is a New York-based mission-driven financial technology company that is breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle by offering flexible on-demand pay to America’s workforce. Clair gives employees control over when they get paid and aims to bring financial freedom to all Americans. |
| How does Clair make money? | Clair’s core business model is built on interchange fees. When employees buy things with their Clair Debit Mastercard®, Clair receives a percentage of the processing fees. Clair also earns revenue when employees choose to use a feature that incurs a fee. |
| Will Clair On-Demand Pay access or change my payroll process? | No, Clair On-Demand Pay has no impact on your current payroll processes. Employees must update their direct deposit to Clair to access their wages early fee-free. When the employee’s regular paycheck hits, Clair deducts any money advanced. The wage advance happens between the employee and Clair, without involvement or impact to your payroll process. |
| Will Clair On-Demand Pay impact my cash flow? | Clair On-Demand Pay will not affect your business’ cash flow. Clair allows your employees to advance their earned wages relieving you of dealing with any employee early pay requests. |
| What are the risks and liability of offering Clair On-Demand Pay to my employees? | Clair takes on all risk and liability. When you make changes to your employees’ shift schedule, any changes will automatically sync with Clair. If the employee already advanced their pay, Clair will bear that risk entirely. |
Setup questions
| Do I need to change how I run payroll today to use Clair? |
| No, unlike other earned wage access providers, Clair does not require employers to process wage advance deductions themselves. Businesses just run payroll as always and Clair makes the deductions in the background to ensure no one is under or overpaid. |
| What involvement is needed from my HR team? |
Your HR team may be involved in the following capacities:
Your HR team will never need to change their payroll processes to accommodate Clair. |
| How much does Clair On-Demand Pay cost me and my users? |
| Clair is free for employers, and employees can choose to access Clair fee-free on their Clair Debit Mastercard or send their advanced wages instantly to an external debit card for a transfer fee. |
| Can all of my users use Clair On-Demand Pay? |
| All U.S. citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. who are at least 18 years old. |
| Do I need a Clair Savings Account or Clair Spending Account to allow my users to use Clair? |
| No, you do not need a Clair Savings Account or a Clair Spending Account. You only need to enable the integration from your When I Work settings page. |
| Can I see what users are using Clair On-Demand Pay and how much they have withdrawn? |
| No, an individual’s banking choices and spending habits are private. Clair and When I Work are not authorized to share this information at the individual level. |
| Can I use Clair On-Demand Pay and a When I Work payroll integration? |
| Yes. These two features are independent of one another as Clair does not replace any payroll provider. |
| How does this look on paystubs in our payroll system? |
|
Clair partners with Pathward N.A., Member FDIC to ensure that users’ money stays safe. Therefore, in their company payroll system, their direct deposit account destination would read PATHWARD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION. It’s up to Payroll Systems to update their mapping of Routing Numbers to Financial Institutions and institution names. Some Payroll Systems may show outdated names if their lists are not maintained. |
| I have more questions about setting up Clair On-Demand Pay. Where do I get help? |
|
| Question | Answer |
| Do I need to change how I run payroll today to use Clair? | No, unlike other earned wage access providers, Clair does not require employers to process wage advance deductions themselves. Businesses just run payroll as always and Clair makes the deductions in the background to ensure no one is under or overpaid. |
| What involvement is needed from my HR team? | Your HR team may be involved in the following capacities:
Your HR team will never need to change their payroll processes to accommodate Clair. |
| How much does Clair On-Demand Pay cost me and my users? | Clair is free for employers, and employees can choose to access Clair fee-free on their Clair Debit Mastercard or send their advanced wages instantly to an external debit card for a transfer fee. |
| Can all of my users use Clair On-Demand Pay? | All U.S. citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. who are at least 18 years old. |
| Do I need a Clair Savings Account or Clair Spending Account to allow my users to use Clair? | No, you do not need a Clair Savings Account or a Clair Spending Account. You only need to enable the integration from your When I Work settings page. |
| Can I see what users are using Clair On-Demand Pay and how much they have withdrawn? | No, an individual’s banking choices and spending habits are private. Clair and When I Work are not authorized to share this information at the individual level. |
| Can I use Clair On-Demand Pay and a When I Work payroll integration? | Yes. These two features are independent of one another as Clair does not replace any payroll provider. |
| How does this look on paystubs in our payroll system? |
Clair partners with Pathward N.A., Member FDIC to ensure that users’ money stays safe. Therefore, in their company payroll system, their direct deposit account destination would read PATHWARD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION. It’s up to Payroll Systems to update their mapping of Routing Numbers to Financial Institutions and institution names. Some Payroll Systems may show outdated names if their lists are not maintained. |
| I have more questions about setting up Clair On-Demand Pay. Where do I get help? |
|
Employee experience
| Can my users use Clair On-Demand Pay and their normal bank? |
| Yes, many Clair users have multiple bank accounts. Clair is a digital banking platform that offers similar functionality to that of a traditional bank (access to spending & saving accounts, a Clair Debit Mastercard®). Users can access these banking features by sending a portion of their paycheck (direct deposit) to their Clair Spending Account, or they can use on-demand pay without the banking features by sending their advanced wages instantly to an external debit card for a transfer fee. |
| My users signed up for Clair, do they need to wait for a debit card to come in the mail? |
| No, employees will immediately get access to their virtual Clair Debit Mastercard® when they update their direct deposit to Clair, and they can spend with their virtual card while waiting for their physical card to arrive. Alternatively, employees who transfer their advanced wages to an external debit card can also start spending immediately on that card. |
| My users have questions about Clair. Where can I send them? |
| You can direct questions about Clair to Clair’s support page (support.getclair.com), hotline (1-888-HI-CLAIR), or email ([email protected]). Clair is available from 9am to 8pm ET, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. |
| My users want to stop using Clair On-Demand Pay. How do they do this? |
| Users can close their account via the app at any time. There are also no minimum balance fees, and therefore users could also choose to redirect their paycheck to a different banking provider. |
| Question | Answer |
| Can my users use Clair On-Demand Pay and their normal bank? | Yes, many Clair users have multiple bank accounts. Clair is a digital banking platform that offers similar functionality to that of a traditional bank (access to spending & saving accounts, a Clair Debit Mastercard®). Users can access these banking features by sending a portion of their paycheck (direct deposit) to their Clair Spending Account, or they can use on-demand pay without the banking features by sending their advanced wages instantly to an external debit card for a transfer fee. |
| My users signed up for Clair, do they need to wait for a debit card to come in the mail? | No, employees will immediately get access to their virtual Clair Debit Mastercard® when they update their direct deposit to Clair, and they can spend with their virtual card while waiting for their physical card to arrive. Alternatively, employees who transfer their advanced wages to an external debit card can also start spending immediately on that card. |
| My users have questions about Clair. Where can I send them? | You can direct questions about Clair to Clair’s support page (support.getclair.com), hotline (1-888-HI-CLAIR), or email ([email protected]). Clair is available from 9am to 8pm ET, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. |
| My users want to stop using Clair On-Demand Pay. How do they do this? | Users can close their account via the app at any time. There are also no minimum balance fees, and therefore users could also choose to redirect their paycheck to a different banking provider. |
Access to wages
| How much money can my users advance? |
| Clair determines how much users can advance using an algorithm that refines its estimates of earned wages over time. If you have specific questions related to your advance, email Clair. |
| Are my users able to access their wages if the timesheets are not approved? |
| Yes. Timesheet approvals are not required in order for users to access a portion of their wages. Timesheet approvals apply to the entire pay period’s entries while Clair On-Demand Pay is available after each clock out. |
| How are the wages available to the user calculated? |
|
Users can only advance a portion of their earned wages for each shift worked, up to a limit between paychecks. This portion is determined by Clair using an algorithm. In the Clair app, when a user taps the purple “On-Demand Pay” box on the app home screen, they will then see the call out “Learn about Earned Wages.” Users can find out all the details, percentage of their earned wages available for advance, and their limit between paychecks. Employees can also click “Hours worked” to show all their shifts. |
| Can I make changes to user’s timesheets after they have withdrawn money from Clair? |
| Yes, any changes to the time entry will be sent to Clair. When Clair receives an update to a shift, they will replace the original with the new one, and the hours worked or pay rate (if available) will be updated accordingly. If the shift is still within the current pay cycle, the available balance to advance from will be updated—increasing or decreasing depending on the edits made. If the shift is outside of the pay cycle, Clair will still catalogue it for the historical view of hours worked, and it will not have an impact on the available amount. |
| What happens if my user has a discrepancy with their Clair advance pay? |
|
The employee should call Clair Care. The Clair support team is available to support from Monday through Friday, except on federal banking holidays, from 9am to 8pm ET. You can contact support by phone, email, or in the Clair app. Clair Care Contact Information: Phone: +1-888-HI-CLAIR or +1-888-442-5247 Email: [email protected] |
| Question | Answer |
| How much money can my users advance? | Clair determines how much users can advance using an algorithm that refines its estimates of earned wages over time. If you have specific questions related to your advance, email Clair. |
| Are my users able to access their wages if the timesheets are not approved? | Yes. Timesheet approvals are not required in order for users to access a portion of their wages. Timesheet approvals apply to the entire pay period’s entries while Clair On-Demand Pay is available after each clock out. |
| How are the wages available to the user calculated? |
Users can only advance a portion of their earned wages for each shift worked, up to a limit between paychecks. This portion is determined by Clair using an algorithm. In the Clair app, when a user taps the purple “On-Demand Pay” box on the app home screen, they will then see the call out “Learn about Earned Wages.” Users can find out all the details, percentage of their earned wages available for advance, and their limit between paychecks. Employees can also click “Hours worked” to show all their shifts. |
| Can I make changes to user’s timesheets after they have withdrawn money from Clair? | Yes, any changes to the time entry will be sent to Clair. When Clair receives an update to a shift, they will replace the original with the new one, and the hours worked or pay rate (if available) will be updated accordingly. If the shift is still within the current pay cycle, the available balance to advance from will be updated—increasing or decreasing depending on the edits made. If the shift is outside of the pay cycle, Clair will still catalogue it for the historical view of hours worked, and it will not have an impact on the available amount. |
| What happens if my user has a discrepancy with their Clair advance pay? |
The employee should call Clair Care. The Clair support team is available to support from Monday through Friday, except on federal banking holidays, from 9am to 8pm ET. You can contact support by phone, email, or in the Clair app. Clair Care Contact Information: Phone: +1-888-HI-CLAIR or +1-888-442-5247 Email: [email protected] |
¹The Clair Debit Mastercard® can be used for no-fee withdrawals at any U.S. ATMs within the Allpoint network. Fees may apply for international ATM transactions or transactions outside of this network.
Clair Spending is a demand deposit account established by, and the Clair Debit Card is issued by, Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC. Mastercard® and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated. Clair Savings Account is established by Pathward, N.A., Member FDIC.
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