Employee pay is one way to incentivize retention. How often operators pay them and how they set bonuses and wage increases are others.
Some senior living operators are in 2026 experimenting with differing pay structures in an effort to improve staffing retention and hiring. Operators including Waukesha, Wisconsin-based Capri Communities are using a four-for-five day pay structure in which staff work four days but are paid for working a full five.
Others, including Dallas-based 12 Oaks Senior Living, are seeing an increasing demand for flexible pay options through partner programs like Payactiv, which lets workers get paid on demand.
“Many employees told us they wanted access to earned wages before the regular biweekly pay cycle,” Melissa Labor, chief people officer at 12 Oaks, told Senior Housing News.
12 Oaks leaders noticed an increase in the app’s utilization over the past two quarters as well.
While it’s not actively changing how often people are getting paid, leaders at Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Priority Life Care are exploring the frequency of earning potential through quick raises and flexible scheduling for staff with hours worked transferring between buildings, according to Co-Founder and President Bobby Petras. One change in particular that is actively being rolled out was influenced by local unions, with staff certifications meriting pay increases.
“We’ve just started rolling it out, and it’s been wildly successful,” Petras said. “It does take six to eight weeks to complete the course and get your raise, and so therefore we’re finding that retention is better.”
The power of changing structures
Leaders with Capri Communities have rolled out the four-for-five pay programming for five years now as part of an initiative partially funded through Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services grant funding. Since its inception, the company has extended the program to dining staff.
Workers on the schedule can use the extra day off to watch their children and save money on childcare or schedule appointments. The goal is to try and give workers time to accomplish personal tasks they might have otherwise called in sick for, Kristin Ferge, president and chief financial officer of Capri Communities, told SHN.
The benefit is only available for hourly staff, and the operator had to overcome skepticism, sort through system implementations and communication with employees to make the program work. The scheduling program has led to higher retention, more willingness to take on weekend shifts and it has attracted more qualified applicants for job openings, she added.
“We’ve seen their retention numbers drop by anywhere from 20% to 30%, and quite frankly, the resident satisfaction scores are very strong,” Ferge said. “Instead of seeing agency or an employee that somebody’s not used to because they’re picking up a shift, our residents are seeing consistent staff, which really, really makes a difference.”
12 Oaks uses partnerships to help address employee desires. The company’s leaders sought out the partnership with Payactiv after staff said they wanted more pay flexibility. It also utilizes broad benchmark surveys and highly involved regional vice presidents to keep a finger on the pulse of what staff want.
The practice helped 12 Oaks to add shift differentials for nights and weekends in communities where schedules have affected attraction or retention, and the company plans to review shift-differential practices more broadly in the coming year, Labor said.
More opportunities for better pay
Priority Life Care is building out career paths so employees can access higher pay tiers. In March, the operator completed wage increases across the board, according to Petras. The company’s employees can train new skills and earn certifications to get an extra dollar per hour.
Priority Life Care’s leaders rolled out the new training concept around a year ago to improve operations at the company’s communities with the highest turnover rates.
“I like to think that our long-term effect of ‘the union way’ is going to be really good for us,” Petras said. “I’d like to say like three years from now, we hope that our turnover rate is around 50% lower.”
While Priority Life Care’s leaders have budgeted more for increasing wages, Petras sees it as a cheaper alternative than dealing with even more costly turnover. The highest turnover rates occur within a new hire’s first 120 days, and the new training program helps offset that retention. It costs Priority Life Care roughly three or four times that investment when an employee leaves, Petras said.
12 Oaks is also finding new ways to incentivize staff pay as a retention strategy, and is rolling out a pilot “buddy” program. Among the incentives that are under consideration for staff who willingly sign up to help new hires are recognition through physical rewards and company shout outs, monetary bonuses for milestones such as completing “ambassador” training, completing a new hire integration and additional bonuses after completing a certain number of “ambassador” integrations.
“Attraction and retention are the results of a recipe we keep refining over time. The ingredients come from what we hear from our people, what we see in our communities and how we adapt our programs to meet changing needs,” Labor said. “By continuing to listen, adjust and invest in what matters most to our people, we can create a great place to work where employees choose to join us, grow with us and stay with us.”
Companies featured in this article:
12 Oaks Senior Living, Capri Communities, Priority Life Care
