Everyone needs a rainy-day fund — your financial health depends on it. Your employer could help you build one.

Many companies offer 401(k)s and other retirement plans, but until recently few had programs to promote short-term savings. That’s starting to change, as employers experiment with matching funds, payroll deductions and other methods to encourage workers to build emergency funds.

“This idea of employer-sponsored emergency savings accounts is just gaining traction,” says Brian Nelson Ford, a financial well-being executive at SunTrust Banks. “I think we’re going to see a lot more of them.”

The need is obvious: 2 out of 5 U.S. adults would have trouble covering a $400 emergency expense, according to the Federal Reserve. Millions of families live paycheck to paycheck, including some with six-figure incomes.

Even a small rainy-day fund can help cover emergency expenses, reduce stress and avoid costly solutions such as payday loans or raiding retirement funds, says John Thompson, chief program officer at the Financial Health Network, a nonprofit consultancy. A lack of emergency savings can increase financial stress that often spills over into work, with effects including lower productivity and increased absenteeism.

Some of the current employer programs are pretty basic, such as encouraging workers to use split deposit.