Kevin Hart's new restaurant teams up with Savi to offer student debt help to all employees

At Hart House, a plant-based restaurant chain founded by actor Kevin Hart, creating opportunities for better health extends beyond clean food. A recent partnership with student loan management platform Savi offers company employees a way to improve their financial well-being for free. 

Federal student loan debt currently sits at approximately $1.6 trillion, with the average borrower owing $40,000, according to the Education Data Initiative. For those in the food service industry, this financial burden can be especially crippling: Data from Talent.com shows the average salary of these employees is $39,001, with entry level workers making far less. Worse, many people are accumulating this debt without the payoff — research shows that up to 40% of borrowers leave school before they attain a degree, adding additional hardship to their financial future. 

"There is a disproportionate negative impact on lower-wage workers," says Andy Hooper, CEO of Hart House. "The inspiration for offering this benefit came from our frontline workers — it's unusual to find a benefit where you can deliver significant financial value to an employee without significant cost to the employer; this is a no-brainer."

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Savi, which became available to Hart House's full and part-time employees across their four Los Angeles locations in December 2023, helps borrowers better understand their debt and find out if they qualify to have payments reduced. On average, users save $150 a month. Employers should be addressing the need to make student loan debt easier to manage, says Savi co-founder Aaron Smith.  

"The student loan system is incredibly complicated," he says. "Imagine you're trying to do your taxes but there's no accountant. This is a huge problem, especially for younger workers; if they can reduce that monthly payment by $150 a month, that can be hugely impactful."

The benefit was rolled out to workers using Savi's communications toolkit, including emails, messages to managers and workshops. Savi creates a co-branded site with employer customers so that workers have easy access to the platform and can get a quick assessment of their debt. Most complete the simple process on their phone. 

"It's very user-friendly for employees on the go," says Smith. "We also offer in-person workshops where people can have their questions answered about debt and education more broadly."

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To further encourage financial wellness among its employees, Hart House routinely communicates its other offerings, including an emergency savings account, so workers can put the money they save through Savi toward their future. The company also offers a lifestyle spending account, which can be used for things such as subscriptions, gym memberships and mental health services. 

By providing a tool that improves employees' well-being, the business also stands to benefit from improved worker engagement and customer service, as well as from a recruiting standpoint — all imperative for people-facing industries, Hooper says.  

"A student loan debt payment is usually the top two or three chunk of money coming out of someone's account each month," he says. "Mitigating or removing that is a massive lift on an employee's general health and wellness. The number one thing that we get out of it is the best version of that person."