Data and Research November 29, 2017

Half of Employees Don’t Want Personalized Messages About Saving for Retirement

However, a survey found 53% of employees would like their employers to offer tools to help them improve their financial situation.

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After several years of American workers beginning to feel more financially secure following the Great Recession of 2008, this year, just 35% said they are satisfied with their financial situation, down from 48% two years ago, Willis Towers Watson found in a survey.

Just over one-third, 34%, said their financial concerns are negatively impacting their lives, up from 21% in 2015. Fifty-nine percent worry about their financial future, up from 49% two years ago.

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Only 47% are confident their will have enough money 25 years into retirement, and 57% think they will have enough resources 15 years into retirement. Ten percent have taken a loan from their 401(k) plan, and 6% have made a permanent hardship withdrawal.

The research also found that 53% of employees would like their employers to offer tools to help them improve their financial situation. However, 57% do not want their employer to send personalized messages to people facing important financial decisions, and 50% do not think it is the role of an employer to send personalized messages to people who are not saving enough for retirement.

“While employees are eager for their employers to provide support and technology that deliver valuable guidance and suggestions on retirement and financial decisions, employees are very wary of personalized outreach,” says Shane Bartling, senior consultant at Willis Towers Watson.

According to the survey results, 30% of respondents said they are worried about their short-term and long-term finances. Among this group, 31% said these worries are keeping them from doing their best at work. Thirty-seven percent reported they feel highly stressed, and another 33% indicated they feel above average stress. Thirty percent said their health is poor. Conversely, 35% of those without financial worries said they are in good health, and 55% reported they are in very good health.

Other financial concerns the survey found include:

  • Twenty percent said they fail to pay their credit card in full each month.
  • Only 31% of employees look at their budget on a regular basis.
  • Eighty-one percent said they are living paycheck to paycheck.
  • Twenty-four percent reported they have experienced a moderate financial hardship, and 13% indicated they have been hit with a severe financial hardship.
Willis Towers Watson surveyed more than 30,000 workers in 22 countries in July and August. Of those surveyed, 4,983 workers were in the U.S.
Break from the Grind November 28, 2017

Needing a New Manicure No Excuse for Unscheduled Day Off

Employers report the most dubious excuses workers have given for taking an unscheduled day off.
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Forty percent of workers have called in sick in the last 12 months when they weren’t, compared to 35% in 2016 and 38% in 2015, according to new CareerBuilder data.

 

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While they may not necessarily be sick, 30% of workers who have called in sick cite having a doctor’s appointment as the top reason to take a sick day, followed by just not feeling like going to work (23%), needing to relax (20%), and needing to catch up on sleep (15%). Running errands (14%), catching up on housework (8%), and plans with family and friends (8%) also appeared on the list.

 

Nearly three in five workers (28%) say they feel obligated to make up an excuse for taking a day off, even though the majority of employees (54%) work for companies with a paid time off (PTO) program which rolls sick, vacation and personal days together. But, they need to be careful with their excuses since more than one-third of employers (38%) have checked up on a worker who called in sick to make sure he or she was actually sick, and 26% have fired a worker for calling in sick with a fake excuse (up from 22% last year).

 

Forty-three percent of employers have caught an employee lying about being sick by checking out their social media posts, up from 34% last year. Sixty-four percent of employers required a doctor’s note, 46% called the employee, 25% had another worker call the employee, and 22% drove by the employee’s house or apartment.

 

The most dubious excuses workers have given for taking an unscheduled day off reported by employers include:

  • A bear was in employee’s yard and they were afraid to come out;
  • Employee’s phone exploded and it hurt their hand;
  • Employee ate a toothpick in his food at restaurant;
  • Employee broke his arm wrestling a female bodybuilder;
  • Employee called in “fat” because uniform didn’t fit;
  • Dog swallowed employee’s car key so she was waiting until it came out;
  • Employee left his clothes at the laundry mat;
  • Employee did not have enough gas to get to work;
  • Employee had to re-schedule a new manicure because some of their artificial nails fell off; and
  • Employees were not sure how the solar eclipse would affect them, so it would be safer to stay at home.

 

On the other hand, more than one-third of workers (37%) come into the office when they are under the weather so they can save their sick days for when they are feeling well, the survey found. Fifty-eight percent say they come into work when they’re sick because otherwise the work won’t get done, and 48% come into work because they can’t afford to miss a day of pay.

 

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,257 hiring and human resource managers ages 18 and older (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) and 3,697 employees ages 18 and older (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between August 16 and September 15, 2017.

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