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need to keep track of your deductions and forward regular payments to their creditor or face legal repercussions themselves. Even worse, it may lead their employer to view them as untrustworthy, something which will reduce their prospects for raises and promotions. Lowering employee’s - Productivity Creditors often call late payers at work, particularly if they cannot be reached during off-hours. The stress of dealing with these embarrassing interruptions can eat into one’s productivity. In addition, taking additional jobs or freelancing in order to make enough money to pay their bills can be exhausting and can negatively affect their performance on the job. And if they are losing sleep worrying about how to get out of debt that will show up in their job performance too. Debt collectors contacting employer - directly Debt collectors can contact one’s employer directly. While they can’t reveal the nature of your debt, they can ask for information to verify your employment or determine employment status, some even have written enquiries. Having debt collector’s contact one’s boss is embarrassing and can potentially strain relations with your employer. How employee debt status affects workplaces We used to be reminded by our HR manager where I worked as a credit controller nine years ago, that we spend most of our day at work than at our houses and as the quote goes “Did you ever think that if you made the place where you spend most of your day pleasant, because you improved your debt situation and so you no longer face the fear of creditors visiting your workplace with threats or demands, resulting in your employer becoming aware of your dire situation with an outcome of a job loss? Wouldn’t you love to have the same peace of mind you had when you first arrived or started your employment?” How I wish we could access large companies, government departments and other multinational owned companies to create ‘debt awareness’ within the corporate environments. My prayer is that, owners, senior management and other executives would welcome these forms of enlightenment for their employees 64 MAL21/17 ISSUE