Many American workers worry about personal finances and spend time dealing with them while on the clock, a trend that threatens productivity and the bottom line.
This is according to a new white paper by Purchasing Power, an American e-retailer providing voluntary benefits. Forty-four percent of full-time employees worry about personal finances during work hours, the paper reveals.
Almost 30% of employees spend time dealing with their financial issues at work—and, of those, 46% devote two to three hours per week, on average, to that task.
A major financial problem Americans face is not having at least $2,000 in emergency savings for unexpected expenses (44%), according to Purchasing Power. Another problem they encounter is difficulty meeting monthly household expenses (28%).
“Stress over money takes both a mental and physical toll on workers, impacting health-related costs and reducing productivity by a significant number,” says Richard Carrano, president and CEO of Purchasing Power. “Employees’ financial problems become the employer’s problems as well.”
That is why Purchasing Power recommends that employers should help their workers when it comes to financial health—something that still doesn’t happen very often.
If companies do provide assistance, “employees experience a better financial well-being and feel less stress,” Carrano says. “For employers, the result is productive workers who are engaged and focused, and an increased bottom line.”
One way employers can help is by offering voluntary benefits geared toward financial wellness, something that could also serve as a talent retention tool, according to Purchasing Power.
For example, companies can offer employee purchase programs, which enable staff members to buy household items and educational services through payroll deduction. The goal of this program is to prevent employees who are in a shakier financial situation from overspending, helping them become more disciplined.
Employers that decide to offer voluntary benefits may have to pay some or all of the administration costs, depending on the provider they use.
Conducted in June, the Purchasing Power survey polled 2,048 adults in the United States.