It is perhaps not surprising to hear that the number of individuals in debt has increased over recent years. In 2023, 15% of the UK population, equivalent to 8 million people, required debt advice. These individuals are typically under 35 years old, in households with children and low income, from underrepresented communities, and more likely to have experienced an income shock in the previous three years, such as a drop in earnings. 

Debt can be a significant challenge for some people and worrying about personal finances can contribute to mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and stress. Research shows that over 1.5 million people in the UK are experiencing both problematic debt and mental health problems, and only a third of the people in financial debt receive help.

It is imperative to recognise the importance of providing comprehensive support to people struggling with financial burdens and signpost employees in financial difficulty to relevant services. Dr Julia Lyons, Senior Clinical Lead, at Onebright outlines some common signs that you might see due to stress and worry about financial concerns in the workplace:

• Absence: taking an unusual amount of time off work
• Reduced tolerance: overreacting to situations in the workplace
• Pessimism: focusing too much on the negative aspects of the job
• Performance issues: struggling to concentrate or complete tasks either day to day or by set deadlines
• Isolation: reduced social skills or less interpersonal interactions with other colleagues, concerns about what others think
• Low confidence: turning down opportunities for development or promotion or plateauing in their career

Here are 4 ways you could provide support to employees with financial worries in the workplace:

1. Have an open culture, one where employees feel safe to speak openly with their line manager or HR leader about their concerns and how they feel. Listen to the individual and ask them what support they feel they require. Consider signposting employees to organisations which specialise in money and debt advice, such as https://www.gov.uk/debt-advice
2. Consider how you can support employees financially. If your organisation is unable to provide pay increases and bonuses, you could look at other ways to provide support, such as discount vouchers and rewards. Also consider salary sacrifice initiatives, such as electric car schemes and cycle to work schemes.
3. Encourage strategies to promote good mental health in times of difficulty. By having a workplace culture that supports work/life balance and encourages employees to have a variety of activities that they value and give them feelings of pleasure, achievement, and closeness. Also encouraging workplace initiatives such as mindfulness skills, which help individuals to notice but not engage with worrying thoughts.
4. Model good practice: By taking care of your wellbeing, being compassionate towards yourself and being open with employees about how you do this then you will empower your staff to do the same.

If you think stress and worry about personal finances are a problem among your employees, there are many ways to help workers manage these feelings, including techniques from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT can help people to learn strategies to manage their negative thinking and implement positive behavioural change to feel better equipped to manage their difficulties and improve wellbeing.

Dr Julia is a Senior Clinical Lead at Onebright. She has a particular interest in working with individuals with complex trauma and has worked for community mental health teams and private healthcare providers offering therapy, supervision, training, consultancy and service development. Julia has also held a lectureship position at The University of Manchester. She has a keen research interest and has published several papers and chapters.