There is a subtle but serious workplace correlation between more and more employees taking chronic stress leave and personal sick days, and a trend – for various reasons – of financially and emotionally stressed workers admitting to being more unhappy at work now than they were last year.
According to recent research by Hays Specialist Recruitment Canada, employees say they were more unhappy this year than last, and 71 per cent dream about quitting their jobs.
Health and HR specialists explain that overall well-being and job performance is impacted, and workplace stress and stress leave are a growing concern for employers when it comes to inefficiency, productivity losses and employee turnover.
LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence survey found that four in 10 workers are burned out on the job, and that onsite workers are more likely to burn out than hybrid or remote workers. Also employees of large corporations are more likely to burn out than those at smaller companies. Younger workers are also more likely to experience burnout than their older peers, and women are more likely to report burnout than their male colleagues.
On the employee side, it is an unfortunate and sad fact of contemporary work life.
On the employer side, it is undisputable, even if not always detailed and documented, that the growing trend of stress leave and personal sick days significantly impacts business, efficiency, productivity and morale.
While the stress leave and personal sick day workplace trend is not sudden, recent studies have indicated that various factors – from pandemic disruptions to the increasing prioritization of work/life balance – continue to heighten stress at work.
Health and HR specialists explain that overall well-being and job performance is impacted, and workplace stress and stress leave are a growing concern for employers when it comes to inefficiency, productivity losses and employee turnover.
Chronic stress leaves and personal sick days are often a difficult and delicate workplace dilemma.
The just business/nothing personal challenge is determining when sick leave phases from legit and unfortunate to chronic workplace toxicity, affecting workplace efficiency, productivity and morale.
What are the employee’s rights? How should the employer most effectively manage a chronic stress leave situation? There is often confusion, aggravated by the sometimes contentious, human rights-in-the-workplace gray area of the formal (and legal) differentiation between sickness and disability.
Employees and employers confront a delicate, and sometimes awkward, workplace reality. While conventional sick days were usually due to sudden illnesses, infections, broken bones, post-op recovery and more, the current trend of personal sick days and stress leave is related to the tougher to diagnose and document area of mental health.
Stats show that after more than a decade of stealth and insidious trending, there has been a dramatic rise in the incidence of stress and mental health leaves in the workplace. Burnout and mental health issues are common, causing the incidence of personal sick days and stress leaves to spike.
The dilemma, for employees and employers, is that mental health in the workplace – while more prevalent and serious than ever – is a delicate and tricky matter to diagnose, document and manage.
Deborah Abiola, spokesperson for the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) notes that “the Alberta Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination at work based on one or more protected grounds, including physical and mental disability. Employers have a duty to accommodate mental and physical disabilities in the workplace.
Alberta’s law includes allowing for leaves from work when an employee is medically unable to work due to disability. Employees may need to provide medical information from their doctor about whether they are fit to work or require accommodation at work.”
Under the Act, disability is widely defined to include many medical issues, such as mental and physical illnesses and injuries. The complication is due to the AHRC specifying that stress in and of itself is not necessarily considered a disability.
“Stress leave” and “medical leave” are protected when they are connected to a certified and diagnosed mental disability.
Employees may take up to 16 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for illness, injury or quarantine, which includes stress-related conditions, under the Alberta Employment Standards Code.
But stress leave, particularly chronic stress leave, often gets complicated, because it is so personal, in the gray area of employment law and, for employees and employers, tricky and hard to prove. Abiola notes that AHRC requires Alberta employees who take allotted sick leave to “provide the employer with documentation, and employees are protected from job termination while on stress leave.”
Alberta law also emphasizes an employer’s obligation to make reasonable accommodations for employees with mental health conditions, including stress, unless it creates undue hardship.”
Lluc Cerda, managing partner, Calgary and Western Canada practice leader at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP emphasizes, “Under the Employment Standards Code, employees who have worked at least 90 days are entitled to up to 16 weeks of job-protected leave for illness, injury or quarantine. But it doesn’t stop there.
“Alberta’s Human Rights Act requires employers to accommodate disabilities up to the point of undue hardship. Accommodation is not just about time off. It is a common misconception that accommodating an employee with mental health challenges always means granting leave. In many cases, accommodations could include modified duties, flexible hours or even a temporary work-from-home arrangement.
“Employers who explore these options often reduce disruptions to their business while supporting their team members effectively.
“And yes, documentation is crucial,” he points out. “Employees must provide medical documentation from their doctor about whether they are fit to work or require accommodation at work and to justify their leave, including outlining restrictions and giving their employer updates about their condition.
“It’s a two-way street. Under human rights law, employees need to actively participate in the accommodation process.”
The Alberta Act widely defines disability to include many medical issues, such as mental and physical illnesses and injuries. The fine print of Alberta employment law specifies that “stress leave” and “medical leave” are protected only when they are connected to a diagnosed and documented mental disability.
But it does get complicated. When it comes to chronic stress leave, the tricky wrinkle in the law, and for management, is that stress, in and of itself, is not necessarily considered a disability.
While contemporary business deals with the workplace impact of stress leaves and absenteeism, there is as much speculation about the causes of chronic stress leave as there are workplace surveys.
Trending shows that a significant number of employees are experiencing chronic stress days at work due to rising financial concerns, with many citing factors like high cost of living, stagnant wages and job insecurity as major contributors to their workplace stress.
The surveys also show that the stressors often impact overall well-being and job performance. Financial stress is a key factor, with many employees feeling anxious about managing their bills and future financial stability.
Employment law and HR specialists suggest that, for various aggravating factors, the chronic stress leave situation in the workplace will continue in 2025. They add the many variables.
“Education is the real challenge,” Samfiru Tumarkin’s Lluc Cerda points out. “Employees need to understand both their rights and their responsibilities under human rights laws. And employers need a better grasp of their duty to accommodate. Closing this knowledge gap is the key to a better future for Alberta workplaces.”
