It may seem odd, but mobile apps that allow employees toaccess their earnings every day instead ofhaving to wait for payday are turning out to be helpful in reducing turnover.

The Society for Human Resource Management reports that the apps, which allow workers to access half thepay they earn in a day as a way to cover unexpected expenses and avoid pricey paydayloans, are useful to companies in attracting and keeping employeesin high-turnover jobs.

With the apps, pay is typically downloaded to debit cards, andtaxes are deducted when workers get their final biweekly or weeklypaycheck. For those using payday apps, most workers take onlyan average of $27 per early access to their money; in addition,it’s not something they do every day—maybe an average of two tothree times per pay period.

While Instant Financial,an instant pay app provider, charges organizations $1 per employeeper month to use its service, other vendors charge workers to usethe pay option. Employers do still have some additional cost ifemployees are charged, since the platform has to be integrated intoits existing payroll system.

Among the apps charging employees is Daily Pay, which chargesemployees $1.25 per transaction if they want their pay the nextbusiness day and $2.99 if they want pay instantly after beingearned, Jason Lee, founder and CEO of New York City-based DailyPay, says in the report.

In addition, Daily Pay allows employees to draw 100 percent,rather than 50 percent, of what they earned the previous day. Leesays in the report that on average, those using the service access44 percent of their overall pay using the daily option, receivingthe remaining 56 percent of pay on their regular biweeklypayday.

“The benefits of the instant pay option are twofold,” Lee isquoted saying. He adds, “The employee has more control over whenand how they receive their pay, allowing them to meet any pressingfinancial obligations. For employers, when employees receive thisbenefit the data shows they tend to stay with the organizationlonger. Employers increasingly see this as a way to differentiatethemselves in tight labor markets where there is flat wagegrowth.”

“We’re seeing a lot of traction for instant pay apps incompanies with large hourly workforces where employees livepaycheck to paycheck and unexpected expenses can cause bigdisruptions to their lives,” Ron Hanscome, a research vicepresident at Gartner in Minneapolis who specializes in HRtechnologies, is quoted saying.

Hanscome adds, “It can be a differentiator in markets whereturnover is high and organizations are looking to create a morestable workforce.” Hourly employees who can access pay immediatelycan be less likely to leave in search of a 25-cent or 50-centper-hour pay increase at a competitor, he says in the report.

Among the companies using some version of the pay option areOutback Steakhouse, McDonalds, Dial America and MaidsInternational; some say it’s helped to reduce hourly workers’turnover rates. Even Walmart is adding an app called Even that willallow its workers to get access to some of their pay beforepayday.

And employers aren’t seeing irresponsible behavior or impulsespending in employees who seek cash ahead of payday; instead,they’re looking for ways to cope with minor financial emergencieswithout having to resort to payday loans or end up delinquent on anunpaid bill.