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ACTION-PLAN


THE STATE OF FINANCIAL WELLBEING 2024: ACTION-PLAN FOR EMPLOYERS

15 NOV 2024

3 MIN READ




THE STATE OF FINANCIAL WELLBEING RESEARCH PROGRAMME EXPLORES HOW FINANCIAL
WELLBEING IS EXPERIENCED AND UNDERSTOOD WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE WORKPLACE.

There is much work to do - but there are clear steps employers can take, to
shift their financial wellbeing strategy from words into actions.

 

The recommendations below are practical and proven for improving financial
wellbeing and you won’t go amiss by implementing as many of these as you can.

 

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Opportunity:
Volatile working hours create shaky financial foundations. Lower earners are
more likely
to experience volatility, and this links to worse financial outcomes.

 

Recommendation:
Aim to meet the standard for living hours, as provided by the Living Wage
Foundation.

 

The Living Wage Foundation has created a standard for employers called Living
Hours.

 

In it they outline three commitments employers should make to provide financial
stability for employees.


The Living Hours standard calls on employers to provide the right to:

 

1. Decent notice period for shifts: of at least 4 weeks’ notice, with guaranteed
payment if shifts are cancelled within this notice period
2. The right to a contract that reflects accurate hours worked
3. A guaranteed minimum of 16 hours a week (unless the worker requests
otherwise)

 

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Opportunity:
A regular savings habit is strongly correlated with better financial
satisfaction and lower financial worries. Lower earners have 8x less savings
than higher earners and are more likely to have £0 in savings.

 

Recommendation:
Implement a payroll savings programme and ideally structure it on an opt-out
basis so that employees build up savings by default.

 

Access to an appropriate savings product is an important component of financial
inclusion. There’s a strong evidence base that payroll autosave is a highly
effective way to get individuals on low and variable income to create a savings
habit and start building a savings buffer.

 

Recent research from Nest Insight shows that savings participation can reach as
high as 71% of eligible employees with this approach. Wagestream has been an
active participant in this savings research trial, and as such can already
implement opt-out payroll savings for employers. There are also many other
pathways to delivering a successful payroll savings programme. Nest Insight has
written a guide for employers outlining different options for making this work,
and the technical and regulatory considerations for each one.

 

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Opportunity:
There’s an action gap when it comes to implementing well known financial
behaviours.
Individuals know what they should be doing, but struggle to make it happen.

 

Recommendation:
Review your workplace financial wellbeing programme and benefits through the
lens of how action-oriented they are and prioritise providing financial security
benefits that are useful and accessible for the whole workforce.

 

Be aware that the financial circumstances and needs of the HR team who assess
these offerings will often be very different from the financial circumstances
and needs of the workers who use them.

 

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Focus on providing a wellbeing toolkit that’s tailored to the needs of your
workforce and considers their circumstances including volatility of earnings.
Financial education can be helpful, but unless it’s paired with actionable and
accessible financial security tools it’s likely it will fall short of the mark.

 

Download your copy of this action-plan here. 

 


KEY TAKEAWAYS


73%

FINANCIALLY-STRESSED WORKERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO MOVE TO AN EMPLOYER WHO CARES
ABOUT THEIR FINANCIAL WELLBEING


62%

EMPLOYERS DO NOT HAVE A WELL-ARTICULATED FINANCIAL WELLBEING STRATEGY


ADOPTION

OF BENEFITS IS A USEFUL MEASURE FOR HOW STAFF ARE FEELING AND WHAT THEY NEED
MOST FROM THEIR EMPLOYER


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