5 beneficial ways you could support employees to ensure a happy christmas for all

While Christmas should be a time of peace and joy, filled with fun and quality time with family and loved ones, it can also bring a degree of stress. A large part of this is due to the difficulty of managing finances.

In 2020, the Bank of England found that, on average, households spent £740 more in December – a 29% increase on usual monthly expenditure[1].

Meanwhile, a new poll from YouGov found that:

• 1 in 4 people will struggle to afford Christmas this year
• For families with children, more than 1 in 3 will struggle
• Around 4 million will rely on credit cards to cover Christmas costs
• 19% of people relying on credit expect that it will take them more than a year to repay the credit[2].

With the joy of Christmas intertwined with the potential stress of managing finances, here are a few helpful reminders to share with your employees to help them enjoy the festivities while minimising the emotional and financial burdens of the holiday season.

1. Allow flexible working

As the reality of Christmas often turns out to be more stressful than advertised, a little extra freedom and flexibility could be a gift worth giving – especially for working parents.

While it’s important to set boundaries, allowing employees the opportunity to work flexibly in the run-up to Christmas might help to ease some of the pressure they may be under. Working from home, for example, could help cut travel time, and give people additional time to prepare for the big day or meet multiple family obligations.

Flexible hours may also mean that parents have fewer childcare woes, since the flexibility may mean that they can work from home. Alternatively, people could choose to start and finish earlier to meet all their commitments in the run up to Christmas.

2. A health cash plan may offer valuable discounts

Extra socialising in and around Christmas can cause more people to catch bugs or become ill. A health cash plan can provide employees easy access to a range of help and medical care, including:

• 24/7 GP care
• Dentists
• Opticians
• Physiotherapy
• Counselling
• Legal advice
• Financial advice

Such services may be crucial in helping employees overcome their issues quickly. And they can also reduce associated costs, which may be a welcome relief at an already expensive time.

Hopefully your employees won’t have a need to call on these services at Christmas, but claiming cash back on dental, optician, or physio appointments throughout the year, may help boost the money they have available to spend on presents for their family.

As such, it may be a good idea to regularly remind staff that these services are available year-round.

3. Direct your team to check out perks offered through your employee assistance programme

Some employees may be dealing with personal or work problems that can make Christmas especially difficult.

Remind your team of the benefits provided by your Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), support available might include:

• Counselling, debt advice, and mental health support
• Seminars on financial wellbeing
• Online resources – fitness, working from home, articles, work-life balance, self-assessments.

Employees may not always be aware of the support on offer, so December is a perfect time to point people in the right direction. Your EAP may be a welcome guiding light at what can be a difficult time of year.

4. Signpost additional perks for helpful discounts and cashback

Your EAP or health cash plan may offer lucrative discounts for high street retailers, supermarkets, restaurants, or cinema tickets – all of which may be useful for buying presents or entertaining the family over Christmas.

Depending on your programme, employees could enjoy up to 30% discounts on store purchases or money off eGift cards.

From money off the big Christmas food shop to discounted eGift cards, and savings on services like Just Eat or Hello Fresh, there’s no limit to how many times staff can save. So, the savings could quickly add up to make a significant difference.

Discounts may even include savings on entertainment and travel. With money off cinema tickets or cut-price entry to places such as Madame Tussauds and Legoland, employees could more easily afford to enjoy a fun family day out.

5. Share useful survival tips with the whole team

Here’s a link to another Aspira article with 5 practical Christmas survival tips – that everyone could benefit from reading.

From tips for getting organised, to sticking to a list, and letting the small stuff go, there’s a helpful reminder for everyone wanting to make the most of Christmas.

Get in touch

To find out more about how your benefits package could help and support your team this Christmas and beyond, please get in touch.

Email info@aspirafp.co.uk or call us on 01454 632 495.

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[1] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/explainers/how-much-do-we-spend-at-chris...

[2] https://www.credit-connect.co.uk/news/one-in-three-households-will-strug...

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