Report shows many workers not taking leaves over concerns about career, difficult process
Canadian employers are funding leave and wellbeing benefits that many workers are too worried, or too confused, to use – undercutting the loyalty and productivity those programs are meant to deliver, according to a new survey.
More than one in three employees passed up a leave of absence they needed, and 46% believe stepping away from work could hurt their career advancement.
Only 43% believe their employer genuinely cares about their wellbeing, found Alight Solutions.
The stakes for HR leaders are direct: 54% of employees say leave benefits influence their loyalty, and the few workers with fully integrated support report markedly higher productivity.
Why do employees skip a leave of absence they need?
According to Alight, 35% of respondents did not take a leave they needed. Among them, 35% worried the absence would hurt their job and 30% said the process was too difficult.
One in three respondents took a leave in the past two years. Personal medical or disability reasons led at 35%, followed by mental health and burnout at 27% and family caregiving at 25%.
Just 52% know where to find their company's leave policies, and 40% understand how short-term disability coverage interacts with government programs, found the Chicago-based benefits administrator, based on a survey about 1,000 employees at organizations with at least 1,000 staff in May and June 2026.
Return to work is the weakest link
Only 57% of employees described communication around their leave as clear, and reintegration scored lowest, with just 51% reporting a clear return-to-work communication plan.
The gap echoes long-standing challenges with return-to-work planning for employees with mental illness, where managers often struggle to know what to say.
Culture matters as much as plan design, the authors argue. "Expanding mental health programs and support isn't enough if employees feel unable to use them," they wrote.
Trust in employer wellbeing efforts lags
Only 46% of employees trust their employer would back them through a personal health or wellness challenge, Alight found. "There is a big hill to climb for employers in Canada when it comes to their people trusting in their efforts to help and in their ability to do the right thing," the report states.
Program cuts may be feeding that skepticism. Four in 10 respondents said their employer discontinued some type of wellbeing program in the year before the survey. "Employees notice when these resources are taken away," the authors wrote.
A separate 2026 RBC Insurance and Ipsos survey showing Canadian employee wellbeing at a new low found just 56% of workers rated their overall wellbeing as excellent or good, down from 65% in 2025.
Why does taking leaves matter?
Having workers refuse to take breaks can be bad for employers, according to different sources:
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Negative impact |
Summary |
Sources |
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1 |
Presenteeism drains productivity |
Employees who keep working while unwell cost employers more than those who stay home. The CSA Public Policy Centre's 2026 report puts the cost of poor mental health in Canada at $180 billion a year, with about $110 billion falling on employers. It finds presenteeism costs $12 billion a year, nearly 90% of all indirect costs. |
CSA report via AWCBC · Institute for Work & Health · CHRR |
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2 |
Burnout raises costs and turnover |
Mental Health Research Canada found 39% of employees felt burnt out in 2025, up from 35% in 2023, at a cost of $5,500 to $28,500 per employee each year. Employees rated paid time off as the most effective support, yet only 33% of those whose work suffered told their employer. The Mental Health Commission of Canada calls burnout one of the strongest predictors of turnover. |
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3 |
Caregivers leave the workforce |
University of Alberta research using Statistics Canada's 2018 General Social Survey found that 51% of employed caregivers missed work and 214,000 left the paid workforce that year. Earlier data showed almost half of caregivers believed using flexible work would hurt their careers, the same fear Alight found around taking leave. |
RAPP, University of Alberta · Canadian Research Data Centre Network |
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Problems grow when support comes late |
The CSA report finds 86% of employer mental health spending goes to reactive measures such as disability claims, with 14% going to prevention. Its lead author points to year-over-year growth in long mental health leaves. MHRC found burnout rates of 27% at employers that invest in prevention, compared with 47% at those that don't. |
CSA via Benefits Canada · Canadian Occupational Safety · MHRC |
