|
Statistics Canada Releases Work Absence Rates Report
Statistics Canada has released its annual publication, Work Absence Rates 2006. The report is based on annual averages from the Labour Force Survey. Some findings:
- Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that both the incidence and the number of days lost for personal reasons (illness or disability, and personal or family responsibilities) have shown a rising trend since 1997. Several factors have contributed: notably, an aging workforce; the growing share of women in the workforce, especially mothers with young children; high worker stress; and more generous sick- and family-related leave benefits.
- In an average week in 1997, excluding women on maternity leave, about 5.5% (484,000) of all full-time employees holding one job were absent from work for all or part of the week for personal reasons. By 2006, the figure had risen to 8.2% (896,000). Total work time missed also rose steadily, from 3.0% of the scheduled week in 1997 to 3.9% in 2006. Extrapolated over the full year, work time lost for personal reasons increased from the equivalent of 7.4 days per worker in 1997 to 9.7 days in 2006.
- Full-time employees in the public sector (more likely unionized or female) lost more work time in 2006 for personal reasons (about 13 days on average) than their private-sector counterparts (8.8 days).
|
