Should an employer care about their employees personal financial well-being?

That’s something I struggle with, with my employees - getting them to be open is TOUGH. A few people have that social knack with employees, but it’s not common.

They are British , Taiwanese?

no, you shouldn’t care, and it’s not your business.
pay fair, pay on time, and dont be an asshole boss… that’s enough

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I believe he said 11 pounds per hour for putting stuff in boxes and shipping it out.

I’m not sure other places would pay that much for a such a simple task.

He’s expressing his concern over his employees lives which shows he’s a good boss who cares about his people.

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In an inflationary environment those who spend now and those with debt are effectively rewarded. Maybe your guys just understand inflation better than the rest of us.

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Also, for low-income earners it might actually be harmful to have too much savings. Many countries wouldn’t pay any benefits as long as the people still have savings in case of hardship, job loss etc. (not sure about the UK though).

So for someone who has already internalized the feeling of never being able to escape the “working poor”, spending money on something that brings “joy” as soon as it arrives is actually somewhat logical and understandable.

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Good on you for caring about your employees’ financial well-being. They are in their 20s, which for many at that age is a time where one’s
future (particularly financial) is not at the top of their “I care about…” list. And while I was never a reckless spender at that age, I too was guilty of such thinking.
Having said that, I believe you can offer some suggestions on financial austerity, but you can’t force it down their throats. I’d certainly mention that high credit card debt (it appears that on their salaries, these purchases can only be bought on credit) is a hole you never want to dig yourself into.
Your wage of nearly 15 U$ bucks an hour to simply pack boxes would be welcome by many people in the US I’d imagine.
You could show them the British TV program, “Can’t Pay, We’ll Take it Away”. Episodes are on YouTube. Although the debt collection on the program does not involve CC debt, but rather debt for services/goods, it’s still pretty eye opening as to what can happen if you don’t pay what you legally owe.

You’re an employer, not a mentor.
They come to you for a paycheck, not a life lesson.

It is nice you want to help them, but it may come off as being patronizing if they didn’t ask you for the help.

First and foremost, focus on the job at hand and make sure they have the skills and tools they need to get the job you hired them to do done and done right.

Pay well, fairly, and on time.

Let them know you are there for advice on whatever should they ever need / want advice. Then, if they come to you for financial advice, give it in an informal, nondemeaning environment and tone. Do it over a beer and lunch out, away from the work place.

You don’t need to be their best friend, father figure, mentor, etc. They are ultimately responsible for their own lives and choices, not you.

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Some people need to hear things multiple times before they get the message. You are concerned about them, so you might suggest saving for a rainy day or living below their means.
It’s kinda like a kid learning the word"herd."

What happened to the formatting?

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Gonna go with “No,” here. Yer the boss, not their life coach. We had a teacher once who ate McDs, like, a LOT, and I never saw him eat a vegetable, like, ever. I mentioned it to him once, and he said, nicely, in fact, “This isn’t everything I eat.”

T’was the nicest fuckoff I’ve ever received.

So, yeah, no. Leave them be.

Alternatively, fire one and raise the other’s pay. See what happens. You should know it costs more to replace workers, so you don’t want high turnover, but if they keep making mistakes wrt packing, send them on their way.

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I second this. It’s always best to have as few employees as possible, and treat the ones you have as well as possible. It cuts down on management, and it’s surprising how productive people can be when they feel valued.

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I would disagree with this because it does not fit his scenario. Previously in other threads, he mentioned that he is looking to expand his operations. So in his case, this advice doesn’t seem to fit his needs.

I think this sounds like a good solution for his current situation.

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Taking staff out to eat? Come on. They’re boxing shit up. If they need a pep talk, get someone else.

It still applies, even if it just means hiring fewer new people.

I’d never want to manage people.

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I would agree if he was running a mid to large company. But I believe he is running a startup with fewer than 10 employees (including himself).

A boss that doesn’t care about the employees in such a small company would be rather cold don’t you think?

Doesn’t care? He clearly does care. From my experience, cosying up to workerbees in order to change their perception on their personal finances is waaaay outside a boss’ scope of duties. The hell do I care how they spend their money?

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I do take them out to eat on occasions. Like a Friday or we just had a very good week in sales. I don’t mind rewarding for a job well done. I even gave them Christmas bonuses.

Which is why I was upset when I’m getting emails of wrong items sent over the week when I’m on vacation. I told them no mistakes this week before I left. Double check and take your time. No rush.

Yet I had to spend my morning before the train resending packages. We are spending almost 1k GBP in the last 30ish days on reships.

Idk, I thought higher pay and rewards would be good motivation to do a good job. It would for me so I’m a bit confused why it’s not working. Its almost like they don’t think I can replace them or it’s ok to make so many mistakes repeatedly.

It seems that I didn’t write my sentence clearly. But if you read everything I had written before, you would already be aware of my position on this.