.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Employers have often adopted the philosophy that their role is to give employees their paychecks and not ask questions about their personal lives. However, that attitude may change as organizations seek ways to help low-income workers gain financial stability and businesses try new strategies to retain employees.

In June, United Way of Central Iowa kicked off the Supporting Work Project, a pilot program that is working with three local organizations to find effective ways in which employers can connect low-income and entry-level employees to company and public benefits. This project is part of United Way of America’s Financial Stability Partnership, an initiative announced in May, which focuses on helping low-income workers gain tools to increase their incomes and begin to save and purchase assets. Though United Way of Central Iowa has already started projects and hosted learning sessions in this area, it will publicly launch its Financial Stability Partnership in January.

“The gap is widening between those who can save and those who cannot or feel they cannot,” said Jane Fogg, director of financial stability for United Way of Central Iowa, who started her position in October 2006 with the goal of launching this initiative. “The role for United Way is to influence volunteers and community partners and use services to try to turn the curve on some of those alarming details that we know about families.”

Through a $140,000 Ford Foundation grant and additional funding, United Way of Central Iowa is working with Iowa Health – Des Moines, Mercy Medical Center and Des Moines Area Community College to identify low-income employees, conduct interviews with interested employees who might qualify for public benefits, and guide them to public and private benefits that they are unaware of or underutilizing. These benefits include free tax-preparation services, tax credits, government subsidies and company benefits, such as educational subsidies and 401(k) plans. Several other local nonprofits are helping with this effort, including the Institute for Social and Economic Development, which is conducting the interviews.

The goal is to improve employee attendance and retention, as well as increase workers’ financial well-being by helping them access more money and use that additional income to save or get additional training that will help them advance in their careers.

“Some of the highest turnover and highest vacancy (rates) in Des Moines are (among) those entry-level workers,” said Sue Allyn, vice president of human resources for Iowa Health, who helped write the Ford Foundation grant. “If we can help stabilize that work force, we can help put a lot more emphasis on growing business.” Allyn estimates that the cost of each job turnover at Iowa Health is one and a half times the employee’s salary.

United Way of Central Iowa plans to use successful practices from the three organizations, as well as from 12 other pilot projects across the United States, to “try to create a system that can be replicated and to keep broadening the circle,” Fogg said. Already it is finalizing the participation of a few other employers, which could be announced early next year.

Fogg said United Way’s Financial Stability Partnership is a natural extension of its mission to help families become economically self-sufficient through initiatives such as the 2-1-1 system, a phone number people can call to reach needed human services.

Efforts to connect low-income and entry-level workers to public and private benefits through work is too new to have produced many concrete results. The only major example so far is the work John Hoffmire, director of the Center on Business and Poverty, is doing with Staples Inc.

Of the 3,018 employees at 19 Staples facilities, 364 signed up for free tax and benefit services at H&R Block offices. Participants received ad-vice on public benefits, including child-care and home-energy assistance subsidies, as well as private benefits, including Staples’ 401(k), stock purchase, medical and scholarship plans.

Though the study is less than a year old, initial findings show that turnover was 43 percent lower among participants than among other employees at the same facilities in the first three months. Participation in the 401(k) plan also increased for those taking part in the program, yet medical plan enrollments decreased, compared with those who did not participate.

These initial figures, particularly in retention, could inspire other companies to follow a similar plan. However, participation requires companies to admit they hire low-income workers, which some fear would create negative publicity. United Way stresses that the goal of this program is not to get people on public benefits, but rather to use those benefits to help people become financially stable in the long run so they don’t need them anymore.

Allyn added that having employers pay better wages isn’t always possible in a competitive market. Most jobs at Iowa Health already pay above national averages, she said, adding: “We would love to pay everyone a very, very substantial salary, but it’s just not possible,” she said. “Everything is market based.”

The three employers in the Supporting Work Program are just starting to set up their programs. They have identified workers who might qualify for public benefits – those who make less than $14 per hour – and have offered them a chance to interview with a representative from the ISED to discuss what public and private benefits they might qualify for. The key to getting employees to participate has been to offer the interviews on-site and on company time, organizers say.

Qualifiers represent a small percentage of each organization’s work force. DMACC, for example, identified 13 people out of 840 full-time employees.

The three participating organizations are awaiting results from the interviews to determine where to target their efforts. Though they won’t have access to information about individual employees, they should be able to see what benefits may be underutilized and offer more information or learning sessions in those areas.

“It gets sensitive in some areas, because in order to qualify, you have to make $14 an hour or less,” said Sandy Tryon, executive director of human resources for DMACC, “so we hand out information so that they know that they may qualify, and once they get the information, it’s out of DMACC’s hands as far as interviews and finding particulars.” She said providing information about this service is part of DMACC’s new employee training.

Tax-preparation advice seems to be an important area, with the program connecting employees to free tax-preparation services, which encourages them to wait to receive their tax refund rather than taking a short-term loan that can cost them on average 30 percent of their refund. It also has informed participants about the Earned Income Tax Credit, as well as other beneficial tax law provisions many have overlooked. With that additional income, the program encourages employees to start saving through a 401(k) program or invest in additional education.

“It gets people’s attention in helping retrieve money they didn’t know they have coming to them because they are working,” Fogg said.

Participating in the program has been an educational process for human resources managers, but they also say it has been much easier having a single source come on-site to guide low-income and entry-level employees through all the benefits.

“It’s not really a different role” for human resources, said Jacquie Easley, director of diversity services for Mercy. “It’s been a role that we’ve kind of stepped up in terms of maybe saying we will provide support for you to be able to find out information on your time, but in terms of education, we have always been here to assist employees.”

As part of this program, United Way of Central Iowa will become one of the first United Way chapters to receive Nets to Ladders, a Web-based software platform, which through the Benefits Enrollment Network and savings tools allows an organization to screen people for eligibility, conduct case management, open bank accounts and more.

The Supporting Work Project is just one of several programs United Way of Central Iowa is involved in as part of the Financial Stability Partnership. It also has partnered with the Certified Financial Planners Association of Iowa and applied for a grant to create an advertising campaign to promote saving.