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Non-traditional voluntary benefits can alleviate workers’ financial stress

Posted on April 20th, 2012 Read time: 1 minutes

Those in employee benefits administration should take note of a recent Purchasing Power white paper that found many employers are now using non-traditional voluntary benefits to offer financial safety nets for workers.

Nearly half (44 percent) of surveyed employers that offer an employee purchase program do so to "fill financial gaps" for workers at a time when the economy remains shaky, while 67 percent said the programs enhance their benefits offerings.

A survey of Purchasing Power customers revealed that the vast majority (94 percent) either agreed or somewhat agreed that being able to access a purchase program helped to alleviate finance-related stress in the workforce.

"Many employers know that their workers are struggling, and this type of program provides them the option of purchasing a variety of different products at a reasonable price without the expense of rent-to-own or other high-interest plans," commented Dale Smith, a senior benefits consultant for Summit Safeguard.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers are increasingly turning to staffing agencies for temporary workers to whom they don't have to provide benefits. Specifically, the number of people employed by staffing services grew 7 percent from January 2011 to January of this year.

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