How to support your employees struggling with fuel poverty this winter – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

PayCaptain offers solution to help employees manage their money better, access emergency funding when needed but protect their pay to make sure that important bills are still paid

Estimated 6 million households will be in fuel poverty this winter

Today is the National Energy Action’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day (FPAD), and an estimated 6 million households will be in fuel poverty this winter, with a growing mountain of debt putting pressure on those least able to afford it.

PayCaptain – a cloud-based payroll software solution – discusses the scale of the issue in the UK, also giving insight into available support for those struggling.

Simon Bocca, founder of PayCaptain, said, “An estimated 6 million households will be in fuel poverty this winter, with a growing mountain of debt putting pressure on those least able to afford it. Households that were already stretched financially will be placed under further pressure and people will start prioritising some payments over others, which will cause debt to spiral.

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“The UK is also seeing the ‘eat versus heat’ phenomenon where families are living in extreme fuel poverty, unable to heat their homes, prioritising the need to eat. It’s times like these that debt advice and management support becomes even more important for those who are financially vulnerable.

Bocca added, “Financial stress is a very real issue for employees in these really tough times. This has a huge impact, not only on employees, but on employers too. It’s in everyone’s interest to offer solutions to support employees to improve their financial well-being.

“Half of the people Citizens Advice help with debt advice are in a ‘negative budget’ – this means that their income can’t cover their essential costs and they are building up debt just to get by. Some groups are especially likely to be in a negative budget, including racially minoritised groups, the self-employed, private renters and, more recently, mortgage holders. People on zero hour contracts might be included here, as their variable wages is a key indicator of low financial resilience.

“In these difficult times, we want to give employees as many tools as possible to help them manage their money and promote their financial well-being. Our solution also incorporates functionality that is specifically designed to positively impact financial resilience for people struggling with money.

“The software has specific functionality built in to help support more vulnerable and low-income employees. We have built a solution to help employees build up financial resilience with a focus on starting a saving habit – no matter how small. Whilst employees build up savings, or if they are not in a position to save there are additional tools to support them such as, access to emergency funding when needed. A few examples include on demand pay, payment splitting, emergency wage advances, and money planning tools.

“On demand pay is where companies can give their employees access to payments when they need them, even if it’s outside of the regular pay period. The payment splitting functionality allows employees to make payments directly from their net pay to landlords, loans, credit cards, mortgages etc – eliminating the risk of missing an important payment. Emergency wage advances enable employees to access emergency cash and automatic weekly advances.

“Weekly funds can be helpful for employees to manage part of their budget on a weekly basis and keep funds protected for their bills and direct debits at the end of the month. Money planning tools allow employees to create a personal budget as well as access helpful financial guidance.

“Hyper personalised suggestions are also designed to help support employees to maximise their income. With specific reference to Fuel Poverty – an in app note will flag the free services available from Wise Group with an easy link to access them this FPAD”.