'Time off tax', or the additional hours worked before and after a week of vacation, reaches its lowest level since pre-pandemic
ADP Canada’s annual report measuring “time off tax”, or the additional hours worked before and after a week of vacation, reached its lowest level since 2017.
Three in ten (30 percent) Canadian workers said they were not working any extra hours before or after a one-week vacation. For those who did pay the time off tax, the average amounted to 18 hours of additional work, a decrease from the previous year's 20 hours and from 2020 when workers reported 34 hours of extra work.
The report found that nearly a third (31 percent) of Canadian have already utilized all their allocated vacation time in 2023. While this figure aligns with last year's results (29 percent), it still falls short of pre-pandemic levels (48 percent).
More than half of Canadian workers (62 percent) reported using at least half to all their vacation time this year. Over a third (32 percent) of workers took less than half of their allotted time off, while 13 percent opted not to take any time off at all.
“The year-over-year uptick in more workers taking all their allotted vacation days, paired with the dip in time off tax, indicates that Canadians are regaining their work-life balance. Taking personal time is essential not only for employees’ productivity and balancing work and life but also for maintaining peace of mind,” says Heather Haslam, vice president, marketing at ADP Canada.
Cost of living woes
The survey also shed light on external factors affecting Canadians' travel plans, with an average of three in ten (29 percent) workers considering postponing or canceling upcoming travel due to the current cost of living. As for their travel plans during the holiday season, over half (65 percent) of Canadian workers stated they would not be traveling, a decrease of 4 percentage points from the previous year.
“As we shift into the new year, and with some workers in Canada forgoing their travel plans, employers need to ensure workers are still taking their well-deserved vacation time to disconnect and ensure mental well-being,” Haslam adds.
