Combatting end of year burnout: Maximizing benefits for greater self-care during the holidays

Toward the end of the year, it’s common for employers to see their staff feel the pressures from the holiday season and end of year burnout. However, for many, these emotions are prevalent year-round. These challenges affect mental health and productivity as well as interactions and relationships with their colleagues at work. While many employers highlight how their benefits plans can combat mental health throughout the year, this is a time to think creatively about how you communicate benefits offerings to employees and highlight how a well-designed benefits package can be maximized in times of increased emotions.

Research from the Institute for Corporate Productivity found that 62% of companies surveyed described productivity levels decreasing in the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Much of that can be attributed to having to juggle seasonal child-care arrangements, trying to meet family expectations, handling financial pressures and making time for holiday errands and gatherings at year-end while simultaneously dealing with year-end deadlines and performance reviews, increased workloads and return-to-office policies.

For some employees, the stress on their mental health can be a lot to handle.

The 2023 HSA Bank Health & Wealth Index, an annual snapshot of how Americans engage with their current and future health, savings and employee benefits, finds that mental health continues to be an important topic of overall health benefits and urges employers to create a company culture of support for the mental wellness of their employees.

More employers are accepting their role in supporting employees’ mental health; survey results show that mental health coverage has increased to 27% from 23% the year before. However, employers can help encourage greater support to combat end-of-year burnout through existing and expanded benefits offerings. Here are common accounts that can help overcome end of year burnout through access to health services or other flexible care options.

Lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs)

LSAs are increasingly gaining momentum in the market due to its versatility and ability to customize usage for employees. These employer-funded reimbursement accounts can be used for nontraditional expenses not covered by insurance. Employers set the terms, deciding how much to contribute, the frequency and what kinds of expenses they will reimburse to fit their employees’ needs.

From the standpoint of supporting their employees’ mental health care needs, expenses such as gym memberships, life coaching, personal or marriage counseling and spiritual advising can be defined as allowable expenses for LSA reimbursement. Some employers even allow activities like art classes to be covered allowing employees to spend their balance on something that supports their overall wellbeing.

The role of the health savings account (HSA)

HSAs are tax-advantaged savings accounts that help employees pay for current medical expenses not covered by the high deductible health plans (HDHPs) with which they are coupled. Many employers offer a partial match of the pretax dollars their employees contribute to their account and some are increasing matches during the holiday season to support with mental health counseling or other qualifying resources.

Among IRS-qualified health care expenses that the savings can be used to pay are those related to mental health care, including therapists, counselors and psychiatric and psychological caregivers. Funds can also be spent on prescription and over-the-counter medications used to relieve anxiety, wellness programs that address smoking cessation or substance abuse, acupuncture treatments used to relieve anxiety, service animals and sleep deprivation treatments. Many employers are increasingly offering wellness incentives that provide financial incentives for health coaching and stress management.

It is important that human resources teams educate employees year-round – with additional emphasis around the holidays – about how their HSAs can help them get the treatments they need to care for their mental health.

Flexible savings account (FSA) and health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)

FSAs and HRAs are employer-sponsored spending accounts that can help employees pay for medical expenses. While they may appear similar to HSAs, they differ depending on the health plan employees select and funds cannot be invested.

Employees contribute pretax dollars to FSAs up to an IRS-determined limit. Their contributions lower their taxable income. Employers contribute an amount they determine to HRAs, and the contributions are fully tax deductible to the employer if they meet IRS guidelines.

Employees can use either of these types of accounts to be reimbursed for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses, including mental health care. As these accounts typically don’t roll over the balance and are known for being a “use it or lose it” perk, employers can encourage employees to spend down these accounts on approved expenses to reduce burnout, anxiety and stress. Employers who are especially interested in providing additional support can also consider providing additional contributions to employees during this time of year.

Related: New report finds employee burnout reached 57%

As the Health & Wealth Index found, employers are recognizing the benefits of supporting their employees’ mental health through IRS-qualified HSAs, FSAs and HRAs. Employers today already have a variety of tools at their disposal to encourage greater wellbeing this time of year, but many can consider adding LSAs to give their team greater control over how they choose to reduce stress and contribute to a higher sense of overall wellbeing.

Employees notice when employers offer mental health care benefits and favor those who do. Employers can ask their insurance carrier about adequate mental health care coverage and ensure employees know how to access this benefit both at open enrollment and throughout the year.