More Canadian workers this year than in 2020 will take holiday vacations. And they need to work less overtime to afford that break, according to a survey by human resources firm ADP Canada.
About 75% of Canadian employees surveyed for this probe say they will take time off over the Christmas period. This is an increase of 14% from the responses of the previous year. In Quebec, this proportion rises to 79%.
In the eyes of ADP Canada’s vice-president of marketing, Heather Haslam, these results are all the more encouraging as the number of overtime hours worked before and after these vacations is decreasing.
“I think that’s good news, because more of us are in Canada on vacation than we were last year. And we are spending fewer hours so that it is well deserved, a time away from work that is much needed, ”said Mr.me Haslam.
According to the ADP survey, Canadian workers report having to do an average of 21 additional hours of work in order to take vacations, down 13 hours from 2020. This is a similar level to 2016.
It is in Quebec that the “gross cost of vacation” – according to the terminology used by ADP Canada – is the highest in the country. An observation that the human resources company observes “traditionally” in its surveys, mentions Mr.me Haslam, without being able to give further explanation.
In 2021, Quebec workers said they would accumulate an average of 26 hours of overtime to pay for Christmas holidays. In 2020, that average was 45 hours.
“In Quebec, as in the rest of the country, we see that the gross cost of vacation is down this year, which is a very good sign,” says Mr.me Haslam.
While a large portion of Canadians will be taking a rest by the first week of January, a majority will be far from spending all the days they are entitled to over the holiday season.
Among those questioned, 27% declared that they wanted to use all of their days off in 2021. If they are more numerous than in 2020 (20%), this proportion is far from the level of 2019 which was close to one in two workers, note Mme Haslam.
According to her, there is still some stigma around taking vacations in the workplace. Some employees fear that their performance could be negatively affected or have additional stress if no one takes over during their absence.
Mme Haslam believes that employers have a significant role to play in making vacation time more conducive and thus reducing the risk of burnout.
“Helping to break down the stigma surrounding vacations is going to reinforce the idea that when you take vacations you are more involved, your productivity is better at work. So it’s as good for the employee as the employer, ”she says.
The survey also found that three-quarters of respondents will stay in Canada to drop out rather than take a trip over the Christmas vacation.
The survey was conducted online on November 24 and 25 by the firm Maru / Blue among 1,520 people, including 824 employees. The margin of error for a probability sample of this size is estimated at around 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
This article has been produced with the financial support of the Facebook Stock Exchanges and The Canadian Press for News