Charity calls for employers to support staff with debt problems

Debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) is calling on employers to support any staff with debt problems after experiencing a sharp rise in calls to its helpline. Over 93,000 people called the CCCS helpline for help with their debts in the first three months of 2010 compared to 69,432 for the same period last year.

The charity says that employers are in an important position to help any staff member of theirs who finds themselves with an unmanageable level of debt, and that organisations should encourage staff with debt problems to seek help immediately. It says that the sooner people seek help for their debt problems the more can be done to help them and that a delay can lead to more serious consequences.

CCCS says that employers should also refer staff to free sources of debt advice to prevent them from going to companies who will charge them for dealing with their debt problems. According to the charity, these companies can charge people thousands of pounds and usually front-load the fee which results in people spending the first few months of a debt repayment plan paying the fee instead of repaying their debt.

Delroy Corinaldi, External Affairs Director, CCCS, said:

“The UK’s personal debt problem is likely to get far worse over the next year and employers are in an important position to help staff who have a debt problem.

“This doesn’t have to mean speaking to employees individually as those with debt problems are likely to feel very private about their finances and may not reveal that they have a problem, while suggesting staff have a debt problem could be intrusive. Instead, employers can help them by providing information on noticeboards and in staff magazines that signposts them to where they can get free debt advice and support.”