Financial wellness programs: Employees want them—or say theydo.

But when push comes to shove, employees either say theiremployers don’t offer financial wellness programs or theyaren’t sure if they do.

That’s among the findings of a survey from Jellyvision,conducted by Harris Poll. According to the survey, 86 percent ofemployees said it was important for employers to offer financialwellness programs.

But less than half—46 percent—say their employers do offer suchprograms, while 25 percent aren’t sure whether their employersoffer those programs or not.

Among those who say their companies offer a financial wellnessprogram, 63 percent say they should know a lot more about thoseprograms than they do.

In fact, 56 percent say those programs should use friendlierlanguage—and 36 percent say the programs are intimidating to use.Not exactly welcoming.

Seventy percent of employees whose employers don’t provide afinancial wellness program say that they would be very or somewhatlikely to take advantage of resources that would help them plan fortheir financial futures.

Not that they want anyone to know; 60 percent don’t want theircoworkers to know they’re participating in the company’s financialwellness program.

Not only that, they don’t even want their employers to know.

Even though 78 percent claim they trust their employers to keeptheir financial concerns private, 45 percent say it’s importantthat their use of a financial wellness program is kept private.

Why is that?

Well, 36 percent say there’s a stigma attached to using afinancial wellness program, and 26 percent believe that using suchservices will make them look bad.

To top it off, those who need it most are the ones who moststrongly believe there’s a taint of some kind associated with theiruse:

• those who feel a lot of financial stress (45 percent, comparedwith 27 percent who do not);

• those who are primarily responsible for their household finances(40 percent compared with 28 percent who are not);

• and younger adults (43 percent of those aged 18–34, comparedwith 31 percent of those aged 50+).

Oh, and certain phrases are a real turnoff to people who mightactually participate otherwise.

Anything with a negative connotation, such as “spending habits”(34 percent), “living within your means” (27 percent), and “estateplanning” (22 percent) will get tuned out by these folks.

To get them to take action, phrases like “planning forretirement” (59 percent), “planning for your financial future” (50percent) and “maximizing your savings” (50 percent) workbetter.

You get more flies with honey…