Canadians struggling with work-life balance

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – For many of us, struggling with our work-life balance has become the new norm.

A survey from Insights West is looking at how often office hours bleed into our personal time.

More than half of Canadians who work full-time, 56 per cent, say they have had to stay late at the office over the past six months.

About one-third say the office has followed them home.

Mario Canseco with Insights West says the survey found some generational differences when it comes to struggling with a work/life balance.

“Baby boomers are more likely to be the ones who are delegating some of these things and forcing the younger employees from Generation X or millenials to deal with tasks when they are at home.”

Canseco says BC leads the country when it comes to working from home on the weekends.

“53 per cent of us who are employed full-time say that we are working at home on the weekend. It’s considerably lower in other provinces. 33 per cent in Quebec. 30 per cent in Ontario. 28 per cent in Alberta. ”

He adds, “we are known throughout the country as being this really laid back province where everything ends and you have a four-day weekend, pretty much everytime you want to because the weather is nice. But looking into some of the struggles of employees, we are actually more likely to be working from home than to be outside if the weather is nice.”

France recently passed a bill that lets companies with more than 50 employees to allow the workers ‘the right to disconnect’ and Canseco says many Canadians would like to see something similar here.

“Well the idea was immensely popular. We have four out of five employeed Canadians, 82 per cent, who would like to see similar legislation in Canada. This obviously doesn’t apply to emergency services or doctors. This is more about the nuisance of being at home with your family and getting an email, or having to take a phone call from work.”

He adds, “the level of support was highest in Quebec, at 90 per cent, but also with those in the highest income brackets.”

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