New data shows presenteeism – not absence – is driving biggest productivity losses for Canadian employers
The most expensive mental health problem in Canadian workplaces isn't the employee who calls in sick, it's the one who shows up anyway.
New data from Manulife Canada reveals that 19 percent of working time is lost to health-related productivity challenges while employees are still at their desks, compared to just three percent lost to absences.
Combined, that amounts to 46 lost working days per employee every year.
Mental fatigue, stress, and burnout are the leading contributors, with 57 percent of employees saying mental health challenges affect their ability to perform their job, and 57 percent experiencing burnout at least some of the time.
Employee mental health and the case for early investment
For Rebecca Gewurtz, associate professor of rehabilitation science at McMaster University in Hamilton, the numbers reflect an issue employers have long misunderstood: mental health effects build up over time and usually aren’t attached to one condition or event.
"Everybody has mental health," she said in a recent interview with Canadian HR Reporter.
"Everybody's mental health fluctuates over time and there are very few situations where you can say that one incident at work directly caused your mental distress."
A separate report from insurer Beneva found that mental illness now accounts for more lost workdays than any other chronic condition in Canada, and drives disability leaves that cost employers twice as much as those for physical illness.
Gewurtz says the cost of inaction is already being felt, and the business case for investing in mental health supports is more straightforward than many executives acknowledge.
"The easier it is for employees to get mental health care, the more they'll be able to work, and the better they'll be able to work," she says, "rather than begrudgingly giving them these little piecemeal pieces where they never really get what they need, and then they go on leave."
Mental health benefits that actually work – and those that don't
A persistent gap in many Canadian group benefit plans is not what's covered but how much. Research cited in the Beneva report shows 15 to 20 therapy sessions are typically required to achieve positive outcomes for employees with depression – a threshold most current coverage limits don't reach.
The Manulife report identifies EFAPs, digital health tools, and mental health practitioner coverage as underutilised, noting access and awareness are as important as availability.
"I see a lot of benefit packages that allow for a psychologist or social worker – whatever health professional, but it's so small that you can really only afford three appointments," Gewurtz says.
"Paying attention to allowing people to actually take care of their mental health, so that they can prevent having to take time off work, is really ideal."
What employers keep getting wrong with employee mental health
The Manulife report notes that 80 per cent of Canadian employees say work contributes to their current mental state. Gewurtz says the answer goes beyond benefits into how managers lead, with respect and dignity as a baseline – something she says is often missing when leaders are promoted without management training.
"We have to equip managers and leaders with the skill of managing in a way that promotes health and dignity," she says.
"People want to be part of work teams where they're treated with dignity, where they're not yelled at, or given unrealistic timelines, or shamed for not meeting a deadline."
A stellar benefits package won't deliver results in a workplace without psychological safety, she says. Beyond benefits, Gewurtz stresses that flexibility around where, when, and how people work should remain a priority regardless of which return-to-work policies are being implemented.
Even where flexibility is seemingly impossible, her message is that where there’s a will, there’s a way, with compromise and creative problem-solving – and the effort is worth it in a more solid and productive workforce.
"Very few workplaces can create flexibility across all three areas – where people work, how people work, and when people work," she says.
"But sometimes you can find pockets of flexibility."
