Many employers considering changes to carryover policies: survey
One-third (32 per cent) of Canadian employers are changing their vacation policies because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while 22 per cent are considering it.
The remainder (47 per cent) say no changes are coming, finds a survey by the Conference Board of Canada.
One big change? Carryover. Almost one-fifth (18 per cent) say they are allowing employees to carry over vacation because of the pandemic – with 72 per cent allowing more carryover and 28 per cent allowing less.
A further 34 per cent say they are considering changing the carryover policy while 48 per cent are not, finds the survey of 309 employers.
With too much accrued vacation on the books a financial liability, half of organizations are reviewing their approach to unused vacation that cannot be carried over.
Most (45 per cent) of respondents say this area is under review, while 25 per cent say all vacation will be paid out and 25 per cent say all vacation will be forfeited, finds the Conference Board.
Encouraging vacation
While one-third of Canadian employers are encouraging employees to take all their vacation credits before the end of this year, another third (32 per cent) are encouraging employees to take at least some of their vacation.
One-fifth (21 per cent) are requiring employees to take at least some of the credits while 10 per cent are requiring all employees to take all their vacation credits. Just three per cent are requiring employees to take vacation days selected by the employer while 17 per cent have not communicated any vacation expectations to employees, finds the surey.
Why are employers encouraging people to take vacation?
- To help improve employees’ mental health or address burnout (86 per cent)
- To balance family responsibilities (82 per cent)
- To ease financial liability of accumulated vacation time (62 per cent)
- Because of reduced workload due to the pandemic (39 per cent)
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, 30 per cent of workers say they’ll be taking fewer days off this summer compared to last year, according to a survey by Robert Half.
Manulife recently announced it is providing extra time off for workers, to help them cope, while another survey showed that many workers are suffering from more mental health concerns during the outbreak.
