How to support low paid employees' financial wellbeing
Most organisations will have a broad range of demographics when it comes to their workforce, some approaching retirement, entry level jobs and everything in between. All of these employees will have different needs when it comes to improving their financial wellbeing. One group of employees that can be at high risk of poor financial wellbeing is those at the lower end of a pay scale.
- Spending provides some people with a brief high, leading to overspending
- When feeling low you might not feel motivated to manage your finances
- Mental health can affect your insurance cover leading to higher premiums
By helping employees to improve their financial wellbeing, an organisation can expect to see benefits such as improved productivity, increased engagement, and less employee absence.
The CIPD found that 49% of employers do not currently have a financial wellbeing policy in place. As an employer, you pay your employees wages and in most situations, provide their workplace pension. These two factors alone have a huge impact on a employee’s financial wellbeing.
1.) Consider paying employees the voluntary real living wage
The living wage has reported that 93% of living wage businesses have benefited since being accredited. Currently the national living wage is £9.50 an hour and £10.85 in London. The idea behind this scheme is to provide employees with a realistic wage that meet their everyday needs, such as food shopping an bills.
2.) Provide staff benefits that help to stretch their income
3.) Provide go-to resources
Employees benefit from knowing where to go when they need financial guidance. One way to help is to supply them with an online resource that supplies information on a range of topics and someone to speak to.
4.) Explore ways in which your low paid employees can progress
Your organisation can consider implementing an employee progression plan. This will not only help motivate employees to reach a new role but also provide an increase in wage for doing so.
5.) Offer employees access to workplace financial education & guidance
Providing employees access to workplace financial education will help them to plan for a successful financial future. It can also be beneficial to help educate employees on other benefits they are receiving including information about their occupational pension scheme.
There isn’t a straightforward solution to increase an employees financial wellbeing. It’s a complex matter requiring education, statistics and an understanding of you workforce. For this reason, more organisations are turning to external support to help their employees. As a supplier of workplace financial wellbeing, Planned Future are able to produce a bespoke programme to help measure and improve your organisations financial wellbeing. You can find out more about our financial wellbeing support by completing the below form.
