Employers should utilise payslips and payroll services to engage employees on a range of financial wellbeing issues.
A new report from Nest Insight highlights that payday can be a crucial touchpoint for employees, particularly those on lower or more unpredictable incomes.
It points out that many check their payslip carefully – so this is a prime opportunity to signpost them to other workplace benefits or money management support, while also providing information to help employees make better financial decisions.
The report, Smarter Paydays, said forward-thinking employers and payroll solution providers were already using a number of innovative ways to engage employees.
These include links to pensions dashboards, budgeting tools on interactive payslips, as well as services such as access to emergency cash from shifts already worked, and savings via payroll. It adds they can all help boost financial resilience, wellbeing and productivity among employees.
The report included information on work undertaken with one payroll solution provider, PayCaptain — to understand and explore innovations in this area.
The report said there was scope for employers to do more via innovative payroll solutions.
Nest Insight’s director of research and innovation Jo Phillips says: “For many workers, especially those with variable pay, the moment you get paid is often the time you focus on your finances most intently.
But payslips often give only limited information, when they could be a gateway to personalised, actionable information and behavioural support that could help employees manage their overall finances, save money for emergencies or make the most of workplace benefits. A smarter payday could be an important moment to build financial resilience.”
Nest Insight adds that it wants to hear from and partner with other organisations who have introduced policy, tools or payroll systems to support financial wellbeing, as it looks build further evidence and understanding in this area.
