Why restaurant groups offer Alice

When you run 5, 20, or 50+ restaurants, HR bandwidth is the constraint. Adding a benefit that requires the GM at each location to chase enrollments, collect paper forms, or load deductions by hand is the difference between a benefit that lives and a benefit that dies. Alice was designed so the corporate HR team does not need any per-location lift to launch or maintain. There is no up-front employer cost, no employee pre-funding required, and only a small reserve deposit from the employer.

This is different from traditional office-worker pretax benefit companies where you pay up front and manually manage enrollment and payroll on your own. With Alice, the only thing the corporate team handles is the initial connection. Per-unit rollout flows from there.

What restaurant employees get

Every eligible W-2 hourly employee at every location gets the Alice Card, a Visa commercial credit card issued by Celtic Bank and powered by Stripe. Program funds are held at Fifth Third Bank, N.A. (Member FDIC). The card works at transit fare gates, commuter rail vending, bus fareboxes, parking garages, parking lots, parking meters, and parking apps, up to the IRS 2026 limits of $340 per month for transit and $340 per month for qualified parking under Rev. Proc. 2025-32.

Uber and Lyft are not IRS-eligible, with the narrow vanpool carve-out.

How restaurant group payroll connections work

Alice connects with 30+ payroll providers, including connections to ADP, UKG, Paylocity, Paycom, Paychex, Toast, and others. Multi-location groups typically run one payroll provider across every unit, even when each restaurant is a separate EIN. Alice maps each employee to the correct EIN inside the payroll feed, so deductions and tax savings post to the legal entity that employed them that pay period. Franchised groups with separate payroll instances are handled through one Alice account with multiple connections layered underneath.

Setup speed

We will get you onboarded in one call. The corporate HR call kicks off the connection. Per-location rollout to employees usually finishes inside two weeks of that call, regardless of how many units are in scope.

How much restaurant groups actually save

Employers save FICA on every pretax dollar an employee runs, which compounds across hundreds or thousands of eligible employees. Employees save about 20% on transit and qualified parking spending, actual savings depend on your tax situation. We frame the employee value as cash back at enrollment to drive participation across the floor.

FAQs for restaurant groups

Can we run different elections by location? Yes, but Alice handles election logic per employee, so corporate does not need to maintain a per-location matrix.

What about acquisitions? When a group buys a new unit, employees at the acquired location are added through the existing payroll connection without a separate Alice contract.

Do franchisees roll up under the corporate Alice account? Yes, this is common. Franchisees join under the parent contract or stand up their own depending on payroll structure.

Ready to set this up across your group

Email sales@thisisalice.com or call (929) 552-4625. We will get you onboarded in one call.

Savings shown or implied including any reference to "cash back" or take-home pay are illustrative. Actual savings depend on your tax rate, benefit elections, and eligible spending each pay period. "Cash back" in Alice's materials refers to the federal, state, and FICA payroll taxes you don't pay on eligible commuter spending. It is income tax you keep, not a cash payment from Alice, your employer, or any third party. Alice does not provide cash back, rebates, or any direct financial benefit in connection with the Program. Alice does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult your own tax preparer, lawyer, or financial advisor for guidance specific to your situation.

Specific benefits, election rules, and run-out periods depend on your employer's plan design. Check with your HR team or plan administrator for details.

Pretax Hero Visa Commercial Card is powered by Stripe and Alice Card is issued by Celtic Bank. Program funds held at Fifth Third Bank, N.A. (Member FDIC). Use of card and program is subject to the cardholder terms and related agreements presented at issuance.

Trademarks, brands, and product names referenced in this article are the property of their respective owners. References are for descriptive purposes only and do not imply endorsement. For definitive information about a third party's products or services, contact that party directly.

Alice does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult your own tax preparer, lawyer, or financial advisor for guidance specific to your situation.

Pretax commuter benefits for BOH staff: a Spanish-friendly explainer

Meta description: A plain-English explainer of pretax commuter benefits for back-of-house restaurant staff, written so it can be translated cleanly into Spanish.

Target keywords: BOH commuter benefits, back of house pretax, kitchen staff commuter, line cook pretax benefits, dishwasher commuter benefits

Internal links to add: /how-alice-works, /alice-card, /restaurants, /es (Spanish version), /payroll-connections

Back-of-house restaurant staff (line cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, expediters) can use Alice to pay for the bus, train, subway, or parking with pretax dollars. The federal, state, and FICA tax they would have paid on those dollars stays in their paycheck, with no up-front employer cost.