Offer employees access to financial planning, businesses told

According to research commissioned by Map My Plan – titled the Financial Fitness of Working Australians – Australians spend so much of their time at work worrying about their financial situation or paying bills that it seriously impairs their productivity.

"When you realise that time lost in private organisations as staff panic about money equates to $5,202 per employee per annum, or a total of $40.5 billion annually, it's pretty clear that finding a solution is a real business imperative. The cost is even higher for government employees at $5,749.15 per employee per annum," Map My Plan founder and CEO Paul Feeney said.

"The cost in time is also surprisingly large. It's the equivalent of 9.55 per cent of every employee's paid salary hours.

"The benefits of a financial plan clearly extend further than just better financial outcomes for an individual, they are substantial for employers as well," he said.

Mr Feeney said these results prompted him to develop Map My Plan to offer employers online financial planning for their employees.

"The cost to employers is minimal, less than $1 per employee per week, yet the benefits are enormous. When you consider that one in three workers say that their personal finances are a major cause of stress and 23 per cent can't sleep as a result, there's no question that productivity at work is affected," he said.

"The Map My Plan platform is unique in that it puts employees in control, it's a dynamic tool which makes it easy to create and stick to a financial roadmap.

"Employees will be less stressed about their finances and therefore more focused and productive at work. For employers, the gains in productivity translate directly into better bottom line results," he said.