Malaysian health, beauty and personal care chain Guardian has enhanced its employee benefits programme through the adoption of an earned wage access (EWA) solution – also known as an on-demand pay (ODP) solution – for employees across its 600-plus outlets in Malaysia. The solution is powered by Paywatch, Asia’s largest enterprise EWA solution provider.

Guardian is part of the DFI Retail Group, a pan-Asian retailer with more than 210,000 employees operating brands like Mannings, Cold Storage, CS Fresh, 7-Eleven, IKEA, Maxim’s and Wellcome, and is a member of the Jardine Matheson Group. This ODP programme with Paywatch was initiated by the DFI Retail Group and is being evaluated for expansion across other brands in multiple countries in Southeast Asia.

The Guardian chain will deploy the ODP solution to its more than 4,400 employees in Malaysia. This wellness enhancement enables the company’s employees to have on-demand access to a portion of their earned wages when needed, before their scheduled payday.

Paywatch is the first bank-backed EWA player in the region and is backed by top financial institutions like UOB, OCBC Bank and Hana Bank. It is also endorsed by multiple regulators and institutions – such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), UNCDF and South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service – and has signed up more than 300 businesses in Asia.

“Voluntary attrition rates across all industries in Malaysia rose to 16.2% in 2023 from 14.9% in 2022,” Guardian states. “With fundamental shifts in the modern workplace and as businesses navigate ongoing challenges, many companies are assessing how to embrace and leverage flexibility to build a more productive and engaged workforce.”