South Africa’s employee wellness challenge is a daily operational risk. Debt stress is now so widespread and acute that it is actively eroding productivity, attendance, and workplace engagement. And the data is sobering: across one employer group of 3,000 people recently assessed by advisory firm NMG Benefits, employees were carrying over 15,000 active debt accounts. More than half of these were in arrears, with the outstanding amount totalling R881 million.
Further a study conducted by FNB shows that employees spend up to 80% of their salary within the first five days of the month, leaving more than three weeks unsupported.
“When you see numbers like these, you have to accept that financial distress is not a personal failing,” says Lettesha Pillay, Head of Business Development at NMG Benefits. “Rather, it is systemic and structural.”
The behavioural effects are immediate. In one NMG survey, employees were asked whether they would prefer to receive R1,000 today instead of a larger amount in 12 months, and a significant majority chose the immediate payout. “This is a mindset of crisis. People are not choosing badly. They are simply trying to cope,” says Pillay.
Recognising this, NMG developed its Employee Wellbeing Index: a data-driven diagnostic analysis that gives employers a grounded understanding of their individual employees’ financial, physical, and mental wellbeing, all of which impact the workforce. The Index draws on anonymised financial records, medical scheme insights, employee assistance programme usage, payroll trends, and employee survey results. It then produces an employer-specific wellbeing score and a breakdown of the root causes affecting workforce stability.
“The power of the Index is that it gives leaders clarity on how to act,” explains Pillay. “Financial wellbeing is often the lever with the fastest measurable impact, but it has to be tailored to a workforce’s actual realities.”
Those realities are often hidden costs and leakages. In one employer group, NMG identified R6.8 million in prescribed debt that should have been written off but was still being pursued. In another, employees were paying flat-rate credit life premiums that did not decrease as their balances reduced, meaning that they were overpaying for shrinking risk.
These Index insights are what shape NMG’s SalarySaver programme; a solution designed to tackle the biggest, most damaging financial drains head-on. One of the most common issues NMG uncovers is the ‘stacking’ of funeral policies, where employees paying for multiple policies, each with its own fees and commissions. SalarySaver consolidates these into a single policy that covers the main member’s immediate and extended family, significantly lowering monthly premiums.
Another major source of pressure is the proliferation of garnishee orders, many of which, says Pillay, do not comply with jurisdictional requirements or stem from responsible lending. SalarySaver’s financial professionals negotiate with creditors to reduce or remove interest and fees and to discount capital wherever possible.
The impact is measurable. “On average, we have saved 40-50% on employees’ monthly insurance and debt costs since making SalarySaver available,” says Pillay. “This, in turn, has helped plug the 23% decline in employee effectiveness caused by financial stress.”
SalarySaver also includes a first-of-its-kind retirement annuity that accepts variable monthly contributions – a realistic structure that enables employees benefitting from savings to start investing in their futures.
“Every employer group has a completely different set of pressures and levers,” Pillay emphasises. “If you do not understand your workforce at a granular level, you cannot provide practical assistance. You also cannot protect your business from the operational impact of their financial stress. This is where our Employee Wellbeing Index, combined with NMG SalarySaver implementation, provides a solid base for meaningful change.”