In the past, it was possible, from a lot of employers, to get an advance of your wages before payday. I remember it well. I didn't use to ever do it but I remember work colleagues who would often ask the accounts department if they could have £200 of their wages a week or 2 early.

Obviously, all companies are different, and some do still allow this but the majority of companies out there don't allow this anymore. It is especially true in the current economic climate where cash flow is extremely tight and important to companies and advancing too many employees their wages early is not only a risk but an additional task that doesn't add any value to the company.

I can't speak for all companies, but the company I used to work for didn't charge for this payday advance. I'm sure many companies didn't.

There is a good chance that your current employer won't allow you to advance your wages before payday - therefore you need to look at alternatives if you are short of cash before payday.

One such option are payday loans. As the name implies they allow you to borrow money and pay back on the date of your next payday. Some payday loan lenders will allow you to pay in your next 2 pay days if the next one is quite close to when you take the loan.