Employees who rate their employer's financial wellbeing support as poor have a mental health score 24 points lower than those who rate it as excellent.
Twenty-four points. That's not a rounding error. It's the difference between a workforce that shows up focused and engaged versus one distracted by money worries, sleep problems, and mounting stress. And here's the uncomfortable truth: most organizations are creating that gap unintentionally, simply by failing to connect employees with benefits that already exist.
Often times, the problem isn't the benefits package itself. It's that nearly three-quarters of workers say their organization's benefits communication is unclear or inconsistent. When employees can't understand or access financial support, they perceive you don't offer it, and their mental health suffers accordingly.
This is where your benefits administration partner needs to be more than merely a vendor, and must become a strategic partner in closing that 24-point gap.
Start With Communication That Connects
Two-thirds of employees prefer email as their primary benefits channel, yet most organizations scatter critical information across portals, posters, and intranet pages. The result? Valuable financial tools—HSAs, FSAs, emergency savings programs—sit unused while employees struggle with the exact problems those tools solve.
A strategic benefits partner delivers clear, plain-language communications on a consistent schedule, in formats that resonate with that particular employee population. This helps transform benefits from background noise into accessible support.
When employees understand what's available, utilization climbs. When utilization climbs, financial confidence improves. And when financial confidence improves, that mental health gap can start to close.
Address the Financial Realities Driving Mental Health Struggles
One in four workers has no emergency savings. Half worry about covering everyday needs. Nearly two-thirds lack confidence in their financial future. These aren't abstract statistics—they're the daily reality for employees sitting in your meetings, distracted by financial stress instead of focused on the work in front of them.
Guided enrollment for pretax accounts, payroll-linked emergency savings, budgeting tools, and transparent cost navigation give employees concrete paths to financial security. But here's the critical piece: this requires ongoing engagement, not just annual enrollment. Regular nudges help employees optimize contributions, build emergency cushions, and navigate out-of-pocket costs before they become crises.
The correlation between financial confidence and mental health isn't coincidental. When 24% of employees say their mental health is negatively impacting work productivity, addressing financial stress isn't a nice-to-have—it's essential infrastructure.
Protect Health Spending When It Matters Most
Economic uncertainty doesn't pause health needs, it can just make people ignore them. One in six employees has already cut spending on health and wellness, and this group's mental health score averages 52.2, nearly 17 points below the national baseline.
Discount networks, lower-cost care navigation, and targeted incentives help employees maintain essential health spending—counseling sessions, fitness memberships, preventive care—even when household budgets tighten. Skipped mental health appointments and canceled wellness activities compound the very problems driving that 24-point gap.
A benefits partner who integrates financial wellbeing with health and wellness support tackles root causes rather than symptoms.
Measure Progress, Prove Impact
Gut feelings don't close a 24-point gap. Dashboards tracking benefits metrics and mental health indicators turn intervention into evidence.
Establish a baseline. Track progress. Connect improved financial confidence to reduced absenteeism and higher productivity scores. When you can quantify how financial wellbeing support impacts mental health and workplace performance, benefits shift from a cost center to a strategic investment.
That 24-point mental health gap exists in part because employees perceive poor financial wellbeing support, even when you're offering robust programs. Closing it requires a benefits administration partner who doesn't just process enrollments but actively connects employees with the financial tools that protect their mental health and, ultimately, their ability to do their best work.
Choosing a benefits administration provider who can serve as your trusted, strategic partner can help transform the mental health of your workplace.
All data points obtained from either the Q3 2025 or Q4 2025 TELUS Health Mental Health Index Reports for the United States.
