The Intersection of Financial and Mental Health

Financial stress is costing your employees their mental health; here's what you can do about it.

Many of us are aware that mental health quality directly impacts employee productivity, in turn impacting a business’s bottom line. For example, unresolved depression accounts for a 35% reduction in productivity. But what is driving employee mental health? Addressing the root causes of mental health decline will improve the lives of your employees personally and professionally.

• With 15% year-over-year growth, financial health has surpassed mental and physical health in terms of importance.
• 29% of those who say money has a negative impact on their mental health, also say they worry about money daily.
• People with debt are 3X more likely to have a mental health problem.

Increasing compensation is an obvious response to assist employees with financial stress. While it’s important to review your compensation strategy regularly, compensation is one tool among many. Consider promoting these other resources to boost employee financial wellbeing and mental health. Boosting awareness and utilization begins with the right strategy and methodology — learn more about Employee Engagement and Communications at OneDigital.

Make the Most of What You Have Available Now

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

If you offer disability insurance to your employees, your plan likely includes an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). You may also choose to partner with an EAP vendor that offers more robust services beyond the no-cost carrier solutions. Commonly, EAP programs include helping people find in-network mental health providers (and may include a number of free therapy sessions per year), which removes barriers to care by doing the hard work of finding a provider on behalf of the employee. These programs also often include financial counseling services. Because financial health and mental health are so interconnected, having a service that can help with both further removes barriers to care and assistance. Learn more about Getting the Most Out of Your EAP’s to Build a Mentally Healthy Workplace.

Retirement Vendor Resources

Most retirement plan vendors offer not only advisory services related to your retirement plan, but programs and resources related to budgeting, credit improvement, savings strategies, debt reduction, and much more. For anyone struggling with where to start, these resources can be a great first step. Your retirement broker may also offer in-person or virtual sessions, which provide a more personalized experience and may lead to more employees feeling more comfortable contacting this expert, their team, and their retirement vendor for support.

Virtual Behavioral Healthcare

If you offer your employees medical insurance, there is likely a telemedicine vendor or multiple vendors, in-network that, in addition to medical care, also offer behavioral health care. Virtual care removes barriers to care for your employees by allowing them to see a provider anywhere at any time. Employees are often able to see a therapist or psychiatrist (a doctor able to offer therapy and prescribe medication). Learn more about Keeping Employees In-The-Know About Expanding Virtual Care Options.

Resources from OneDigital (Available to all employers and employees)

• Financial Academy. The Financial Academy includes webinars (live monthly with recordings available), savings calculators, articles, and more.
• Mental Health Hub. This tool includes resources to help improve and maintain mental health, as well as getting help.
• Wellbeing Calendar. This tool includes resources related to health and wellbeing, understating your benefits, and financial security – as well as additional tips and information.

Enhance Your Benefits Package

Employees need benefits that cater to their evolving needs at different life stages. Companies that understand and address these disparities can create a more satisfied and successful workforce. Before making additional investments, assess the needs of employees and determine the support then want and value. Learn about our Employee Value Perception Study.

Enhanced EAP Services

Your disability vendor most likely includes a basic Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with this insurance, but this offering may be very simple, or your employee’s needs may exceed what this basic coverage includes. There are many third-party EAP vendors that can offer a more enhanced, personalized experience for your organization to better meet the needs of your employees.

Enhanced Virtual Behavioral Health

Your medical insurance carrier most likely has at least one telemedicine vendor that is in-network and includes behavioral health services, like therapy. Partnering with a third-party vendor can allow you to include a set number of free sessions, shorter wait times to see a therapist, and more robust care planning. This can also operate outside of the health plan, so if you are trying to lower medical plan claims cost related to behavioral health, this can have a tangible impact.

Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA)

A Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA) is a post-tax benefit that reimburses employees for expenses related to their lifestyle, however an employer prescribes. The employer chooses the amount employees can claim and chooses the specific allowed expenses. Examples of allowed expenses include fitness memberships, classes (financial classes, cooking classes, meditation classes, etc.), meal delivery services, car repairs or major appliances, etc. Programs like these often bring peace of mind to your employees and show you care about your employees at work and outside of work. Vendors you currently have in place, like your FSA or HRA vendor, may offer LSA services, and many vendors offer this as a standalone service.

Enhanced HSA or HRA Contributions

If you have a company with 100 employees, there is a good chance 6 employees (6%) carry over $1,000 and 1 employee (1%) carries over $10,000 in medical debt. This can also greatly vary from state to state, with Hawaii having the lowest medical debt and South Dakota having the highest medical debt (source: KFF). Enhancing your employer contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA) and/or to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), associated with your medical plan(s), can reduce your employee’s financial burden of out-of-pocket medical costs, while reducing their barriers to care – when you aren’t afraid of a medical bill you are more likely to get care, maintain continuity of care, and improve your health to avoid large claims (and cost) down the road.

Financial Adviser Services

As leaders recognize that financially healthy employees are good for business, more employers are taking action to help their employees financial wellbeing. When you build financial planning, education, and guidance into your benefits package, you’re powering the potential of your people and your business. OneDigital’s service model includes resources like our Financial Academy, and you can add programs like Financial Adviser services to support your employee’s financial journey.

Caregiver Benefits

Caring for children, aging parents, or a disabled family member can be a huge financial and mental burden. People in the sandwich generation – mainly gen X and elder millennials (those in their 40s and 50s) — are more likely to be caring for both children and their aging parents simultaneously. Caregiver benefit services can include help finding high-quality (adult and child) daycare, disability navigation, Medicare navigation, Alzheimer’s and dementia support, and end-of-life guidance and resources. Providing employees access to experts and a support team can help ease their burden and increase presenteeism at work.

Fertility and Adoption Assistance

Fertility and adoption assistance benefits are designed to help employees build families by covering some to all of the costs and challenges of fertility treatments and adoption. These benefits may include financial assistance for in vitro fertilization (IVF), fertility medications, egg freezing, artificial insemination, and counseling. Adoption support often involves reimbursement for adoption agency fees, legal costs, and travel expenses, along with paid leave for adoptive parents. Some employers also assist with surrogacy costs and offer fertility/adoption navigation services. These benefits are designed to be inclusive, supporting various family-building options, and can help attract and retain talent while easing their financial burden. Fertility treatment specifically can also operate outside of the health plan, so if you are trying to lower medical plan claims cost related to fertility treatment, this can have a tangible impact.

Pet Benefits

Pets are members of our families and cared for as such. When your pet is feeling under the weather, vet bills can add up quickly and often mean time away from work. Pet insurance is an easy voluntary benefit to offer employees, providing them access to discounted group rates and income protection against large medical claims for their warm and cold-blooded companions.

Identity Theft Protection

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, as of 2021, 22% of US residents had experienced identity theft in their lifetime. On average, victims sustained direct financial losses of $880. Identity theft protection is an easy voluntary benefit to offer employees, providing them peace of mind and access to discounted group rates. In addition to employee coverage, family coverage is also available.

Giving Programs

An employee-to-employee giving program can be created to help your employees who are facing financial hardship immediately after a natural disaster or an unforeseen personal hardship. The program relies primarily on individual donations from employees and support from the employer to fund this program. Every contribution helps and, when combined with the donations of others, can provide a tax-free grant to help a fellow employee in need when they are facing the unexpected.

Enhance Your Work and Leave Policies

There are lots of creative ways to improve your current work and leave policies. These don’t always include time off of work but may include ‘no meeting Fridays’ or ‘work from anywhere July.’ Time off policy enhancements may include a certain number of wellness days per year (on top of vacation and sick days) for employees to focus on mental health and personal needs, half day Fridays during your business’s slowest quarter, or sabbaticals for employees every 5 years of employment.

No program is one size fits all and employee needs change over time. Whatever tools you deploy to help improve the current and future mental and financial health of your employees make sure your investments align with your employee’s values, utilization is measurable, and the impact is assessed over time to determine if a program stays in place, needs to be changed, or needs to be replaced.

OneDigital’s teams of Benefits, Financial, and Human Resource consultants are here to help you understand your options, reduce your administrative burden, and make an impact on your employees.