Realizing that traditional financial wellness benefits that rely on financial education, coaching, and planning are not moving the needle on employee financial health, many employers are considering different approaches.
Workplace emergency savings accounts (ESAs) have gained traction over the past few years as a result.
While having liquid savings is a critical component of financial health, workplace ESAs alone are not enough to support the 7 in 10 Americans who are not financially healthy. As more Americans report challenges even keeping up with basic living expenses in 2026, the savings challenge has become even more urgent:
- 53% of Americans can’t cover a $1,000 emergency expense with savings
- Nearly a quarter of working Americans have no emergency savings
Savings matter—but for most employees, they’re not the starting point.
Here are five reasons workplace ESAs fall short—and what employers should consider instead.
1. Employees don’t believe they can save
Proponents of emergency saving accounts often tout stats such as “more than one in four Americans has savings of less than $1,000“ as a reason workplace ESAs are the key to solving employees’ financial problems. While it’s true that a workplace ESA can empower employees to avoid financial institution fees and remove barriers for the unbanked/underbanked, access isn’t the real issue.
Most employees don’t believe saving is possible.
In fact, only 10% of Brightside users say that they have money left to save from each paycheck when they start working with us.
When there’s nothing left at the end of the month, a savings account doesn’t solve the problem.
What does? Fixing what’s in the way first.
Once employees receive personalized support from their Brightside Financial Assistant to overcome everyday money problems, manage debt and find extra money, they begin to see new possibilities.
That’s how 50% of Brightside users start autosaving from each paycheck, even if they’ve never saved before.
2. Root causes of financial illness aren’t addressed
Workplace ESAs only treat the symptoms of poor financial health, rather than the causes of financial illness. Many frontline employees are dealing with bills that outweigh their cash flow, debt, low credit scores, and struggle to afford basic needs, including housing and transportation.
They need help breaking free of these challenges, which may require temporary support from local resources, government programs, and/or employer hardship funds, so they can establish the financial stability to start saving.
3. Employee financial health isn’t limited to savings
Savings is just one part of financial health. Financial Health Network defines financial health across multiple indicators, including spending, borrowing, and planning behaviors.
Source: Financial Health Network
A workplace ESA doesn’t give employees access to all of the safe financial tools or support they need to address these other important financial habits.
4. Human, personalized support is necessary
Financial stress is complex. The most financially sick employees are often navigating a range of challenges, which may include the threat of eviction, income instability, family or health-related financial pressures, and mental health challenges.
All of these pressures make it more difficult to make sound financial decisions and to take action and supporting them through this requires far more than a savings account.
They need a real person who is on their side that will help them navigate to the best possible option for their unique situation.
5. Lack of organizational impact
Workplace ESAs might help reduce employees’ short-term financial stress and when employer-funded, can be a recruitment tool. But they won’t lower healthcare costs, reduce turnover, increase productivity, or resolve the other HR challenges that employers (and ultimately, shareholders) want to improve.
Employers must provide comprehensive financial health benefits that are uniquely designed to treat financially illness and improve employees’ financial health, to see ROI from their benefits strategy.
Why offering Brightside Financial Care is a better choice than workplace emergency savings accounts
Workplace ESAs are limited in scope and don’t address the broader financial challenges employees face. Brightside Financial Care is a comprehensive financial benefit grounded in behavioral science, that provides employees with empathetic Financial Assistants who work quickly to find real solutions that address employees’ financial needs.
These include a:
- Free Brightside Savings Account, where employees earn a competitive interest rate and can get rewarded for autosaving from each paycheck
- Free Brightside Spending Account, which provides early access to their paycheck with direct deposit and includes a Cash Advance feature (up to $100) for emergencies.
Employees can access these and other financial resources in the Brightside app, so it’s easy to build savings, track spending, and connect with their Brightside Financial Assistant by chat or a phone call as many times as they need, at no cost to them.
The impact Financial Care has on employees and their employers is evident in results such as:
- 50% of employees who engage with Brightside begin saving automatically from each paycheck
- Brightside puts $1,200 on average back into employees’ pockets
- Employers such as Amazon and other Fortune 500 customers see measurable ROI including reduced turnover, employees working 36+ more hours each year, and fewer 401(k) hardship withdrawals
Schedule a demo with our team to see why Brightside Financial Care is a better investment than workplace emergency savings accounts.
This article was originally published in April 2024 and was updated on March 31, 2026 to reflect current stats.