One in five workers say financial stress has hurt their productivity, and that group scores 24.4 points lower on the Index than unaffected peers, at 47.3 compared with 71.7.
Five per cent (5%) of workers have missed work entirely due to financial stress, TELUS said, a group whose average score of 45.3 sits nearly 19 points below the national benchmark of 63.9.
Benefits knowledge gap adds to pressure
Six in 10 (60%) workers contributing to a workplace retirement or savings plan do not fully understand how it works, TELUS reported, and those with no understanding score 19.3 points lower on the Index.
Nearly 2 in 3 (63%) workers want more employer-provided resources on retirement, pensions or savings, making it the most requested category of support in the survey.
“When 60% of employees contributing to a workplace pension or retirement plan do not fully understand how it works, employers lose the return on investment of their total rewards spend,” says Paula Allen, Global Leader of Research and Insights at TELUS Health, in the report.
