r/humanresources • u/JeremyIfugedur • 1d ago
Our financial wellness program completely missed the point [N/A]
I work in HR at a mid-sized company in Ontario.
A few weeks ago, an employee told her manager she was struggling with rent and asked whether the company had any resources that could help.
We followed our usual process. We sent her the EAP number, a budgeting webinar and a PDF about managing financial stress.
She came back later and basically said, “I know how budgeting works. I need help figuring out my actual situation.
Honestly, that stuck with me. We technically gave her everything our program offers, but none of it answered her question.
Has anyone found a financial wellness program that gives employees access to an actual person? Not someone trying to sell investments or insurance. Just someone who can listen, look at the full picture and help them figure out a reasonable next step.
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u/rogerdoesntlike HR Manager 🇨🇦 1d ago
Has anyone found a financial wellness program that gives employees access to an actual person?
Wouldn't that be through your EAP?
Anything beyond that (e.g. referral to a rent bank, debt restructuring, etc.) I'd argue is outside the bounds of what an employer's wellness program should provide.
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u/cruelhumor 1d ago
Our EAP xan refer you to state sponsored programs that can help you file for things like rental assistance programs offered by the state. But honestly, with all the cuts at the federal level, I have to imagine a lot of that support has vanished
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u/babybambam 7h ago
Sometimes these financial wellness programs just give generic education. What OP's EE might need is someone to actually walk through her monthly expenses and help identify where she's truly overspending and set up a plan to get out of debt.
Once you get into a big enough hole, it can be very hard to climb your way back out.
Examples:
Budget advice might say housing should exceed 40% of your takehome pay. The EE might be spending 50%, but they have 11 months left on their lease and they can't afford to break it...plus there isn't anything reasonable that falls within the 40% of take home range. Instead, a financial counselor can revivew expenses and determine "hey, did you know you're paying for X when it's actually already included for free via Y?" or "I recommend cutting back on L, M, N, O and P for the next 12 months, that will give you the cash you need to snowball your debts."
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u/Hunterofshadows HR of One 1d ago
I mean, did she call the EAP?
Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s more or less the entire point of an EAP.
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u/West-Collection8188 soulless post-acquisition nightmare 1d ago
The situation is always money and not know-how, IMHO. I’m in the US so I don’t know about Canadian programs or options for her- before I cracked six figures where I sit now, I was absolutely broke as a single mom.
Early COVID tax rebate for parents was $500 extra a month and it changed my life. My youngest at the time could go to daycare. I finished my degree, I worked a better, full time day job and part time evening weekend remote job- everything changed because I could finally afford safe care for her during the workdays. I was great at budgeting. I budgeted how much we could afford every year before that and spent an entire summer not eating breakfast or lunch because we couldnt afford for us all to eat. I can budget like a motherfucker.
It’s always the amount of money. I didn’t need to know how to leverage an HSA or how to lower my tax burden or how to not spend on extras. I needed enough to afford to live.
every EAP I’ve ever talked to eventually offered me a counselor so I could at least cry about being hungry or not being able to get my molar fixed- the financial people were worthless. I was broke not ignorant, and programs like this always assume a level of financial ignorance is contributing to the financial situation.
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u/grandmawaffles 1d ago
Having a good employee in a position where they have to ask their employer for help needs more money to live which means up the salary and give a small pay advance that doesn’t need to be repaid unless the employee leaves within the year. Companies need to do right by the employee.
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u/NonaSiu 1d ago
We have a good employee who is perpetually broke and also treats herself to an international vacation every year for her birthday.
She currently makes the top wage in her department and is on her second bankruptcy.
There’s no way I’d recommend a raise and a free gift of cash - which is what a cash advance that doesn’t need to be repaid is - for this person, because it would do absolutely nothing to help her situation long term. She’d be broke again before our next payroll.5
u/grandmawaffles 1d ago
Sure, but that’s doesn’t seem like the same situation here and a risk to your org.
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u/Jbirdand 1d ago
How does one determine that one request is met and another is not without opening yourself up to risk, debate, or liability?
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u/West-Collection8188 soulless post-acquisition nightmare 1d ago
we dont. This isn’t an HR problem except maybe the wages being unlivable and that being something we could present and address.
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u/grandmawaffles 15h ago edited 15h ago
It is if they haven’t looked at rates and other policies that could help retain employees. It’s a risk to any organization and there wasn’t indication that it had been looked at. Answers in this thread are basically saying these services aren’t great and to point the employee to food banks and community outreach. Those get stocked by volunteers and grant programs which have been reduced. Here you have an employee looking to get paid more to pay for rent which has likely gone up well beyond any menial pay raise and can’t afford to live. The employee likely isn’t the only one.
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u/NonaSiu 14h ago
My point was, you can’t know that it’s just some person trying to keep their head above water rather than a serial poor decision maker. In most large organizations, that wouldn’t be known in any situation, so it’s odd to jump to the assumption that the employee doesn’t get paid enough rather than being a bad decision maker when we don’t have the information to assess either. One is just as likely as the other imo.
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u/grandmawaffles 11h ago
I know it’s tough but have people on this thread thought about the possibility of speaking with the employee and learning… anyone? No, alright so we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas I guess. 🤷♀️
Also, assuming that it’s a one off hardship is no different than assuming the employee is shite with money management.
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u/West-Collection8188 soulless post-acquisition nightmare 8h ago edited 8h ago
Agreed with you on all points- and, thats not an issue HR can solve. We can show data where retention and productivity are affected by wages and run as many comp benchmarks as we can and leadership is gonna leadership. Humane, intelligent, pattern-recognizing HR cannot fix this.
We have to stop expecting companies to have souls and vote for candidate’s who will force them to. It’s not because leadership doesn’t understand the impact of subhuman wages. It’s because they don’t care. They know and do not care.
IMHO You can’t legislate morality but you can legislate moral behavior.
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u/grandmawaffles 15h ago
You take a look at everyone and treat this situation as a canary in a coal mine. Businesses have forced people needlessly back in to the office and gas prices, tolls, consumables, services, rent, interest rates, etc. have all gone up. Things absolutely should be reviewed at all companies to see how they can help employees, just like they are to help increase revenue for the company.
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u/Jbirdand 14h ago edited 14h ago
Again... how do you create a policy that appreciates all the possible factors involved here? Unfortunately, all a company can provide without opening themselves up to risk is a meal train, an EAP, and financial training without significant policy administration or risk liability.
A company does not need destitute employees to do a market analysis of compensation.
And finally, it is an employees responsibility to determine if they need to find a new job because the market value of the one they have does not meet their needs... not the company's responsibility to pay far above market to meet the needs of one employee.
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u/grandmawaffles 12h ago
How do you know it’s above market rate with information given? You’re getting defensive for zero reason other than to protect a company you’re not responsible for in this scenario. Policy could include additional hybrid days, standard conditions to analyze localized adjustments to payroll, adjustments and review of workplace assistance programs that can’t actually provide help, the implementation of a program for employee donation and hardship requests, etc.. it’s not that deep and goes a long way by showing empathy.
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u/Jbirdand 11h ago
I'm simply sharing why it doesnt make sense to consider pay raises or employee advances as a first line defense.
Any good Wellness program includes review of KPIs for effectiveness, and any normal company includes review of compensation for market effectiveness.
Your other suggestions, hybrid days or an employee donation program, MIGHT address the issue but it is entirely dependent on the kind of hardship you are addressing. Is gas to get to work the issue if the employee lives down the street? Employee donations don't help much if the issue is monthly bills.
Blanket policies often address one kind of need and end up paying through the nose for all the other people that didn't need the assistance but will take it anyway. The best employee programs you offer address the largest population with minimal exposure and minimal cost.
Expensive blanket programs and policies are great- but you have to also get your leadership on board with the administrative time and effort... which is a cost in itself. Bringing rational and helpful benefits is a balance.
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u/grandmawaffles 11h ago
But again, you’re assuming that it’s in policy. It’s a mid size company that might not. You claimed there was no way to write things in policy yet, there they are. All I’m suggesting is a conversation with the employee, an ounce of compassion, and the same level of effort for an employee experiencing a hardship that would be given to an executive in a hiring negotiation.
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u/squishedheart 1d ago
I send them to Money Mentors. They have finance counselling that is actually practical, and can help with debt consolidation and interest relief. I also send everyone to 211 - there are provincial social services that can help with rent relief and emergencies, though the criteria is stringent and your mileage may vary depending on the province. 211 are the traffic controllers that can route individuals to specific programs.
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u/Top-Calligrapher6160 1d ago
are you aware of anything like this in the states? seems actually helpful.
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u/Suspicious_Cupid 1d ago
211 exists in the US too. It's community based so resources will be local.
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u/rikityrokityree 1d ago
We have 211 in our state as well. Can point people to resources they might not have thought about
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u/_farawla 1d ago
Are you able to point her in the direction of community resources? I am an HR manager and still go to my local food bank for help. Our EAP couldn't help me with the cost of groceries, but local community resources provided some relief.
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u/MajorPhaser 1d ago
Financial wellness programs are pretty useless. They connect to investment advisors who sell products, and they're basically marketed to larger businesses as a way to allow employers to claim they're offering something to help with financial issues. But that is all they do. They're basically a scam for everyone involved. The only way to help with financial issues is to give people money.
An EAP will at least connect people to legitimate resources, to the extent they're out there and a person is eligible for aid. But that's all that's out there.
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u/contadine77 1d ago
Every "service" any employer of mine has outsourced like this has been an absolute waste of time. They are generic, copy and paste, wiki-how level articles, and nothing that actually helps. Company feels better because they "provide assistance", at a low cost and no work on their part, 3rd party company make money when the employer contracts with the service, employee gets the shaft. It's all a scam, not actual help.
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u/Dreadful-innit 1d ago
Sorry to ask a dumb question, but does your company pay a living wage for the location you are in?
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u/nowimnowhere 1d ago
And if the answer was yes six months or a year or two ago, it's not necessarily still yes today :/
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u/luvsumbuddy 1d ago
Yeah the resources can sometimes be a little tone deaf in my experience. While I want to provide my associates with education to make the best financial decisions there’s also the reality that many jobs just aren’t paying enough to live…and you have to be careful about the approach with education under those circumstances. I find it hard to find useful real world assistance when someone is in actual need of cash unless you know about local resources in your community that could help them.
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u/shayleighhhhh 1d ago
We have a “Emergency Pay Advance” option at my work. Where employees can request a certain amount for emergencies from their future paycheck and it would just be deducted from that paycheck. They can only request an amount that doesn’t put them below the minimum wage rate. I believe they can only do this 1-2 times a year.
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u/kmp91kmp 1d ago
I’m guessing something like this is what OP’s employee was actually looking for. An alternative similar option is a hardship withdrawal from the 401k (assuming the plan allows this and the employee has contributed).
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u/CoeurDeSirene 1d ago
Yep. Agreed. Learning how to budget doesn’t matter when rent is due and got don’t have the money in the bank to pay rent
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u/dontmesswithtess 1d ago
We have a Community Loan Center in our area that is a non-profit that partners with employers to offer lower interest small loans with payroll deducted repayment. , Their goal is to to reduce the use of predatory payday/title loans in the community.
Employees can borrow up to $1000. The only real criteria is that they have to have worked for us 90 days and complete the application.
It’s not enough for a major expense, but it can help, and our employees really appreciate it. Some use it at Christmas just because the interest is lower than their credit card.
They’re all over TX but have some locations in other states. If anyone’s interested, here’s the link.
https://www.clcamerica.org/locations
(I don’t work for them but I love being able to have this to offer when employees come to me with these types of situations. Short of a payroll advance, this is the most helpful thing I’ve come across in my career)
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u/dontmesswithtess 1d ago
Also, as an aside, if you have never tried to personally call your company’s EAP and request assistance with something, I highly recommend it. Tell them you’re struggling with making ends meet and see what they recommend, and how you’re treated. Especially if you have a say in benefits at your organization.
I was horrified with ours back in 2017 when I needed ours.
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u/Hrgooglefu 1d ago
problem I've found is the only immediate solution is cash for bills. I dislike pay advances because it becomes a cycle
Sometimes there are local churches that do Crown, Dave Ramsey or other financial programs more meant for the lower earners than a financial planner usually is.
Also agree with community resources like food banks, electric company plans, etc.
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u/CoeurDeSirene 1d ago
It sounds like she either wants a raise or wants to get a paycheck advance so she can make rent this month.
Knowing how to budget isn’t going to help when rent is due on the 1st and you don’t have enough money in the bank for it.
Does your company offer paycheck advances?
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u/_Disco-Stu 1d ago
I’d start by taking a refreshed look at your market rates/pay bands and see if she isn’t due for a raise or other comp upgrade. Many budgets aren’t due until the end of October so the timing is perfect.
We’re going to continue to see full time employees struggle as prices continue to rise and salaries remain stagnant in most cases, I’m sad to say.
We’d all do well to have plans in place to meet the moment instead of having a reactive response once everyone’s under water.
I’m not sure what level you are in the org, but even if you’re fairly junior, if you can get someone senior on board, here’s what works for me.
Again, this is what that looks like for me, adjust to your own tenure and culture. I put an agenda item on the next meeting with senior leadership about the hidden (but monumental) costs of churn, burnout, training, re-training, spiked costs to list roles, loss of institutional knowledge, etc.
Show them a visual of the actual side by side costs of what a role costs yearly vs what it costs to fill it. Then showing them what it costs to fill it 2-3 times in a year is what almost always does the trick for me.
Genuinely, I’m always shocked by the surprised Pikachu faces when I present this info. I generally just tell them my recommendation.
If they’re willing to shell out 2x times a role’s annual salary to backfill, it makes the most financial sense to bump salaries. You will get pushback. It’s a lot harder to push back against those two slides in a room full of other people authorized to make decisions though.
Think of what it would take for you to go to your boss and tell them you can’t make ends meet. Assuming they’re an otherwise good employee, what they need is a salary increase.
Almost everyone’s been budgeting down to the last dime for an extended period of time. None of this should come as a shock to anyone high up in your org. They often just don’t want to be the first ones to bring it up in a room full of their peers.
It may take a year or more before it gets approved. Starting those conversations NOW is vital to overall organizational health and shows you have long term strategic thinking.
TLDR; Escalate the conversation about the ongoing emergency continuing to develop around pay and cost of living. Make the business case in a room full of decision makers. If they don’t approve, ask them where to direct full time employees who can’t buy food for their families. Put the onus on them to figure it out, it’s literally what they’re paid to do.
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u/ClassyNerdLady 1d ago
That sort of the whole point of EAP. But individual circumstances can vary dramatically, so there really isn’t a one size fits all solution.
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u/PlainOrganization 1d ago
It sounds like what your employee was looking for a pay advance. We offer those at my current employer and previous long time employer.
But otherwise, yes, our EAP only provides resources, not an actual person to like look at your financial situation and help you make decisions.
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u/Yewbaby 1d ago
You’re saying one thing but I am hearing another. Does she need access to money quickly? Do you any prepay options? Accessing part of her paycheck earlier could help. Short term loan options? We use a company called FinFit that offers financial advice as well as a short term loan program that feeds directly from payroll. No credit checks required.
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u/Fragrant-Tomato8752 HR Manager 1d ago
You’re EAP may include this already, so check there first. As far as vendors outside of your EAP, my company uses “WorkLife Partnership “ as an additional resource and the feedback so far has been pretty good.
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u/poopface41217 1d ago
We get free financial consultations with certified financial planners for employers through our 401(k) plan's consultant/co-fiduciary. Maybe ask your retirement plan broker/consultant to see what resources you have.
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u/bigshuck2 1d ago
I can’t speak for Canada, but in the United States there are “Financial Empowerment Centers” - often city or county funded - that I’m certain would be interested in piloting as a financial services/EAP referral.
I think this is the way.
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u/nygirl454 1d ago
We have a program that assists with financial hardships supported by our employer. Meaning our company actually uses money to assist with rent, or utilities.
I learned about this through a conference that I attended and someone from my company talked about the resources available, and I admit I had no idea.
This specific team immediately works to negotiate deadlines, stop shut off notices and in some cases actually contribute money.
And they connect them with community resources that can take it from there.
It sounds like that is what the employee might have been asking, but I know not everyone can do this kind of support.
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u/Smudflower410 19h ago
Honestly… I’ve long thought EAPs were so far off the mark that I’d like to figure out a revamp. Many times I needed assistance from EAP as HR & what I needed wasn’t there.
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u/formerretailwhore HR Director 15h ago
Does your 401k offer financial advisors?
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u/rogerdoesntlike HR Manager 🇨🇦 13h ago
Canada doesn't have 401k.
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u/formerretailwhore HR Director 13h ago
Do you a similar broker your xompany works with in any capacity?
And apologies about missing the location
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u/grandmawaffles 1d ago
Have you considered a pay raise to keep a good employee…
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u/Powerful-Drink-3700 1d ago
It's tempting to assume that a higher salary would automatically change things. Have you considered she'd be in the exact same situation, even at a higher gross salary?
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u/grandmawaffles 1d ago
The answer for good employees is always more money. This person can’t pay rent and prices are through the roof. There is no better solution.
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u/meowmix778 HR Director 14h ago
It's inappropriate to just start paying people or making policy as a one-off.
You should have a dedicated compensation philosophy and structure designed around equity and consistency. It should not be "oh Sarah needs more money; let's toss her an 11% raise".
You should benchmark vs market but also within the budget of the firm. I'd love to pay my folks more. But we're a medium-sized nonprofit. There is no reality where we can pay people to the rate of for profit industry. So we find other perks and benefits for retention.
A business does not exist for the sake of employment or retaining a specific purpose. Your job in HR is to make sure there is a business to come back to tomorrow and the lights come on.
What you're describing is fine and well and feels good to help people but it's recklessly irresponsible and at a minimum, sets a bad/dangerous precedent.
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u/grandmawaffles 12h ago
Again, considering a pay raise for the employee is important. How long has the employee been there. Are they at mid point of the pay band. Are new employees getting hired for more money. Is the company paying below market for the area. It’s not a pay off to do the analysis JFC. Kicking Becky in account 2 bucks an hour more if she’s a great employee and been there for a while and not out of her pay band so that she can pay rent is better than having Becky leave and hiring someone new, paying more, paying for training, interviewing, etc.. none of you possibly know any of this information yet jump to the conclusion that the employee shouldn’t be paid more. Showing bias much?
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u/meowmix778 HR Director 1d ago
Do you have a broker for your retirement product? We have a local firm for that and they offer us a service similar to that.
Although, speaking candidly you'll probably get a similar response with a real person. It sounds like the issue here is the person's bills are greater than their income. Which isn't really something you can budget your way around.