Employees are spending time on the clock dealing with theirpersonal finances, and it negatively affects their productivity.According to a Harris Poll conducted on behalf of Purchasing Powerin March of this year, 37 percent of U.S. employees workingfull-time report that they spend time at work thinking about ordealing with their finances.

On average, they're spending two hours every week balancingtheir budgets, worrying about paying down debt and dealing withother money concerns. Large businesses are potentially losingmillions of dollars in lost productivity every year.

Money tops employee stressors

Employees bring their financial stress to work because it'stheir biggest stressor. According to the American PsychologicalAssociation, Americans have cited money as their top source ofstress since 2007. In order to find out what kinds of financialissues keep them up at night, we surveyed working Americans ontheir financial situation:

• 34 percent have trouble meeting monthly expenses;

• 40 percent don't have at least $2,000 saved for emergencies;and

• 26 percent of employees who consistently carry balances on theircredit cards find it difficult to make minimum payments ontime.

American workers are stressed because many are in a precariousfinancial situation. It's difficult to focus on your work whenyou're worried about making a large purchase or paying your monthlybills.

The far-reaching implications

Not only does financial stress lower productivity, thedistractions it causes can have more far-reaching implications.

For manufacturers, that can mean more accidents; for healthcarecompanies, less effective patient care; for professional servicescompanies, costly data errors.

With safety and service quality at stake, businesses can'tafford to be passive about employee financial stress.

How to get employees back on track

While the costs of financial stress can be high, employers canuse voluntary benefits to help employees improve their financialsituation. Employers can now offer benefits that help employeeswith basic skills, like budgeting and saving.

They can also offer benefits like discount and employee purchaseprograms, which make it easier for employees to make majorpurchases. But the first step is getting a good idea of themagnitude of the problem.

Calculate the cost of employee financial stress that maybe impacting your clients and learn how voluntary benefits canhelp.