More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of employers in Ontario believe supporting employee mental health and well-being is important for their organization’s success, according to a new survey by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
However, the survey, which polled more than 1,900 organizations across the province, also found just over a third (37 per cent) said they have a formal strategy for employee mental health and well-being, a percentage that has remained largely unchanged since 2017 (40 per cent).
Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents said they offer paid sick leave to their permanent employees, with the number of paid days varying depending on the size of the business. For instance, among the small businesses surveyed, 40 per cent said they don’t offer paid sick days, while 21 per cent offer between one and three days, 20 per cent offer four to six days and 18 per cent offer seven or more days.
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By contrast, just two per cent of large businesses don’t offer any paid sick days at all, while 12 per cent offer between one to three days, 37 per cent offer four to six days and 49 per cent offer seven or more paid sick days.
The survey also found 60 per cent of respondents called diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion important to their organizations’ success, with 44 per cent saying they have strategies in place.
When it comes to remote working, fewer than half (44 per cent) of respondents currently do business fully onsite, compared to 64 per cent that did so prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, more than half (56 per cent) currently work either fully remotely (six per cent) or in a hybrid model in some capacity (50 per cent).
According to the survey, hybrid work remains considerably more common in predominantly urban regions (Toronto, London, Ottawa and the Kitchener-Waterloo-Barrie region) and least common in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula, where there is a larger share of skilled trades and tourism- related work.
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