September 24, 2013 – Demographic forces are helping drive up the Canadian workforce’s reported absence rates owing to illness, according to a study released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Absent With Leave: The Implications of Demographic Change for Worker Absenteeism,” authors Finn Poschmann and Omar Chatur find, over the long term, absence rates have climbed, identify potential causes and recommend steps to address this challenge to productivity.
“Over the past 30 years, absence rates have risen in Canada’s workforce, overall, raising important questions about why days lost owing to reported illness are climbing,” commented Finn Poschmann. “We show how demographic and institutional change may have affected reported rates and may do so in the future.”
Among the authors’ findings:
- The data show striking differences in absence-rate trends, which depend on age, sex, and union status.
- Days lost owing to illness vary across age groups: as the demographic weight of Canada’s population shifts from younger to older categories, reported days lost rise. Absence rates for female versus male workers of all ages and types have diverged over the course of the last few decades, with females reporting more days off and men’s rate showing little change.
- Public-sector employees report more workplace absences than do private-sector employees. Workers in unionized settings, in which female participation has grown tremendously, take more sick leave days than those in non-union settings.
Workplaces and government practices and policies must adjust to these realities, through a combination of accommodation, flexibility and planning, conclude the authors.
Click here for the full report.
For more information contact: Finn Poschmann, Vice-President, Research; or Benjamin Dachis, Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute. 416-865-1904; email: cdhowe@cdhowe.org.