Axa is launching My Budget Day on November 21st in an attempt to encourage people to take control of their finances.

Employers are being asked to give employees one hour a month to sort out their personal finances such as paying credit card bills and loan installments or opening savings accounts.

UK adults are not motivated enough to look after their money, says Axa. The insurance group said that employees already spend about 40 minutes a day on non-work activities such as emailing friends or texting.

"If businesses are prepared to let their employees spend over three hours a month wasting their time on text messages then asking them to dedicate just one of those hours to helping their employees alleviate their money worries doesn't seem like a lot to ask," said Steve Folkard from Axa.

Employees could use an online banking service to control savings accounts. Apacs payment association has revealed the number of adults banking online has increased from 6.2 million in 2001 to 17 million in 2006.

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