According to a 2013 Conference Board of Canada study, Canada has an average of 9.3 days lost per employee per year, compared to between five and seven days in the U.S. and the U.K.
Recently, there has been a great deal of attention given to the problem of workplace absenteeism. According to the most recent information from Statistics Canada, the average Canadian worker was away from work for the equivalent of almost two weeks in a year. Those 9.3 days lost translate to 2.4% of gross annual payroll, or $16.6 billion for Canadian employers in 2012.
The rising costs of absenteeism and disability have compelled many organizations to put a new emphasis on actively managing disability claims in their organization. Consequently, employers are increasingly asking their insurers or third-party disability adjudicator to share information about a claim or a claim’s progress so that they might better manage the employee’s absence and eventual return to work.
Smokers take a toll on the bottom line of their employers, costing an estimated $4,256 each in 2012—up by more than 25% since 2005.
Many of us unfortunately know someone who has experienced a traumatic event. It could be an unexpected event like a sudden death, diagnosis of a terminal illness, a workplace accident resulting in serious injury or death, a car accident, a robbery or act of violence, or a natural disaster. Generally, people who have either directly experienced or witnessed a traumatic event will report feelings of unpreparedness, powerlessness and helplessness. For those managing a person who has been through a trauma, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the situation and effectively help the person affected.
The habit of calling in sick when you’re actually not is alive and well—and some of the excuses U.S. employers have heard are absolutely memorable, such as a worker's fake eye falling out of its socket.
Absenteeism cost the Canadian economy more than $16 billion last year and an effective disability management program can help mitigate those costs.
Demographic forces are helping drive up the Canadian workforce's reported absence rates, according to a report.
The average Canadian employee was off for almost two full work weeks in 2011—a trend expected to intensify as the population ages. But although absenteeism costs companies billions of dollars, many fail to track their employees’ time off.
Organizations across Canada need to put in place graduated return-to-work strategies to help employees after being treated for depression, according to a report.