How Financial Stress Can Cause Negative Effects on Employee Productivity

American society has undergone unprecedented changes over the last few years, primarily brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. A shift to remote work, an increase in inflation affecting the prices of household goods, and supply chain issues creating shortages have naturally affected the American workplace and the American employee.

For employers, it is essential to understand how financial stress for employees can cause adverse effects in the workplace. With this understanding, employers can implement strategies to help employees, reduce the negative impact of financial stress on employees, and increase overall workplace productivity.

Why Should an Employer Care About Employee Financial Stress?

Financial stress can lead to a number of different problems for employees, including:

• Lower quality of work
• Poor concentration
• Failure to complete daily work tasks
• Increased absenteeism or tardiness
• Mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and sleeplessness

All of these aspects of financial stress for employees impact job performance, affecting a company's bottom line. For example, if employees are absent more often, that can lead to lower productivity, which means projects take longer to complete and deadlines are missed. There are financial penalties for failing to complete projects on time in many industries.

Low productivity and inefficiency may lead to hiring temporary workers to offset the loss of productivity. All of these lead to higher costs for the company. Additionally, even if employees are keeping up with the demands of work, those struggling to concentrate on work tasks are more prone to making errors, leading to low-quality work.

What Can Employers Do to Help Employees with Financial Stress?

There are a number of different things that employers can do to help employees with financial stress. Some of these things include:

• Providing financial wellness resources: Employers can provide employees with access to financial wellness resources that can help them better understand their finances and make better decisions with their money.

• Offering financial counseling: Employers can also provide employees access to financial counseling services. This can help employees work through their financial stressors and develop a plan to improve their financial situation.

• Creating employee assistance programs: Employee assistance programs can provide employees access to many different services, including financial counseling. These programs can help employees reduce their stress and improve their overall well-being.

• Offering flexible spending accounts: Flexible spending accounts can help employees save money on eligible expenses, like child care or healthcare costs. This can help reduce the financial stress that employees are feeling.

• Providing student loan assistance: Student loan assistance can help employees with the burden of student loan debt. This can make it easier for employees to focus on their work and reduce their financial stress.

Medical Debt and Employee-Provided Insurance

One of the most significant sources of financial concern for many American workers is medical debt. The American healthcare system is a nightmare to navigate for the average employee. The lack of transparency and layers of business, legal, and medical jargon make it beyond challenging to know what a medical service will actually cost. The cost of medical services and the ensuing debt deters patients from seeking additional needed treatment, leading to unhealthy workers.

Unhealthy workers are stressed workers, but even more so, and they run the risk of being out for extended periods, which is a net loss of productivity, not just low-quality work.

Employers who offer assistance programs to help pay for medical costs or employee-provided insurance will benefit in the long run. Not only will an employee be more productive, but their overall morale improves, which can spread to the workforce at large.

FinPay Can Help Reduce Financial Stress for Employees

FinPay is an automated patient financial responsibility payment solution. It integrates seamlessly with healthcare providers' existing billing and revenue management departments. It puts the patient first by engaging with them before any medical services are delivered. By having transparent conversations about financial obligations and providing financial education, an automated payment plan can be created. This consistent, monthly amount allows the patient to budget and removes the very real fear of surprise medical costs.

If your employees are facing financial stress, especially from medical debt, reach out to FinPay to see how we can help be a resource for your workplace. Contact us at info@finpay.com.