# Overview

An on-chain ETH payroll system where employers prefund a contract and workers claim their earnings at any time, no intermediaries, no scheduled pushes.

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## What it is

StreamWage Payroll is a smart contract that replaces the traditional employer-to-employee payment flow. Instead of an employer manually sending payments on a schedule, they deposit ETH into a contract upfront. Workers then accrue pay continuously over time and withdraw whenever they choose.

The contract supports four payment timelines: hourly, monthly, custom interval, and operator-triggered grants, This gives employers flexibility in how different workers are compensated.

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## The problem it solves

Traditional payroll relies on a trusted employer to send payments on time. That trust introduces delays, dependency on banking rails, and geographic friction. StreamWage removes that dependency: once a worker is registered and the treasury is funded, their earnings accrue automatically. No one can withhold or delay what is already on-chain.

*<mark style="color:blue;">Workers do not need permission to claim. As long as the treasury has funds, they can pull their earned balance at any time.</mark>*

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## Core design principles

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Pull-based claims

Workers initiate withdrawals. The contract never pushes funds unprompted.

⏱\
Continuous accrual

Earnings accumulate in real time, including partial intervals. No time is ever lost.

⬡\
Prefunded treasury

ETH is deposited upfront. Workers can trust the funds are already there.

◎\
Multi-worker

Each instance supports unlimited workers with independent rates and timelines.

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## What's in the system

The system is made up of two contracts:

`StreamWagePayroll` : the core logic contract. Handles workers, accrual, claims, treasury management, term negotiation, and address migration.

`StreamWagePayrollFactory` : deploys isolated payroll instances using a beacon proxy pattern, so each customer gets their own contract with shared upgradeability.


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