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BUSINESS Tuesday 12 March 2019
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Liz Weston: Can your employer cure your money woes?

By LIZ WESTON that ended Jan. 25 high-
NerdWallet lighted the financial fra-
Millions of Americans get gility of even better-paid
their health insurance workers, Lim notes.
and retirement accounts "Federal workers were lining
through their employers. up at food banks because
Now some are getting help they were unable to cover
with their debt. their basic needs," she says.
Companies including insur- Twenty-two percent of Hon-
er Aetna and accounting eyBee's borrowers last year
firm PwC help employees earned less than $30,000,
pay down student loans. while 52 percent made be-
Others partner with startups tween $30,000 and $50,000
to offer debt solutions as an and 26 percent were paid
employee benefit. Among more than $50,000, Lim
the approaches: says. HoneyBee, like com-
— MedPu t negotiates petitors TrueConnect and
discounts on medical Salary Finance, offers small
debt and offers interest- loans that can be repaid
free loans that are repaid over time . PayActiv, mean-
through payroll deductions. while, allows employees to
— Brightside connects tap into wages they've al-
workers to debt consolida- ready earned through pay-
tion loans and student loan day advances.
refinancing. Brightside does not loan
— HoneyBee, PayActiv money directly. Instead, it
and TrueConnect , among trains financial assistants to
others, provide payday work with employees who
advances or emergency have money issues, says So-
loans so struggling workers This April 2017 file photo provided by NerdWallet shows Liz Weston, a columnist for personal fi- phie Raseman, Brightside's
can avoid the payday loan nance website NerdWallet.com. head of financial solutions.
trap. Associated Press If someone needs a loan,
FINANCIAL STRESS TAKES A the assistants can discuss
TOLL that stress. Seven out of 10 than student loan assis- CHECK-TO-PAYCHECK the costs, risks and poten-
Employers increasingly are employers in a survey last tance (4 percent), ac- WORKERS tial benefits of products the
aware that money worries year said that debt was the cording to a 2018 survey Employers know many of company has vetted, as
can reduce productivity No. 1 financial challenge for the Society for Human their workers are burdened well as offer alternatives,
and increase absenteeism. faced by their employees, Resource Management. by education debt, which she says.
More than half of the 1,600 according to the Interna- Employers that offer the has reached record lev- MedPut, meanwhile, audits
full-time employees polled tional Foundation of Em- benefit typically provide els. But employers may not medical bills for errors, ne-
by PwC in 2017 reported ployee Benefit Plans. about $100 a month for a know how many of their gotiates discounts in return
feeling stressed about their Programs to help workers set number of years or with workers need emergency for prompt payment, then
finances, and human re- pay student loans were a lifetime maximum, often loans to make ends meet, loans workers the money to
sources company Mercer among the first debt-fo- around $10,000. Insurance says Ennie Lim , HoneyBee pay the debt. The startupe-
has estimated financial cused employee benefits company Unum allows em- president and chief execu- vfocused on medical bills
stress costs U.S. businesses companies offered, but ployees to transfer up to 40 tive. since those can be a huge
up to $250 billion a year. they're still not common. hours of paid time off to stu- It's not just the lowest paid stressor for employees, says
Debt appears to play a More companies offer pet dent loan repayment. who have trouble. The 35- Harsha Puvvada, MedPut
leading role in creating insurance (11 percent) STARTUPS FOCUS ON PAY- day government shutdown cofounder.q