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New year, same stress?
Heather Haslam, vice-president of marketing at HR solutions company ADP Canada, says January is a critical time for companies to support their employees and start the year off on the right foot.
“January is a pressure test for workplace culture,” she says. ”Employees are coming back into the new year already carrying stress and fatigue, which makes any existing gaps in support much more visible.”
Why are we so tired and stressed? According to ADP Canada’s Workplace Trends for 2026 report, just 32 per cent of Canadians took all their vacation in 2025, and those who did reported a ‘time-off tax’ of nearly 17 hours of extra work to prepare for, and catch up after, their time off.
“This tells us that taking vacation has become transactional rather than restorative. Workers are frontloading and backloading their workload to make time off possible, which defeats the purpose of rest,” Ms. Haslam says.
She says some of the reasons people may not be taking their allotted vacation time are related to concerns about job security, falling behind or working in a culture that doesn’t support time off.
This cumulative fatigue, unpaid overtime and unused vacation come with costs such as reduced engagement and productivity, and higher turnover.
ADP data shows that 87 per cent of employers say they’re responsible for employee mental well-being, yet fewer than half (46 per cent) offer these benefits.
“Many employers want to do right by their people, but they’re struggling to balance competing priorities with limited resources and affordability,“ says Ms. Haslam.
The solutions
Even if companies can’t pour more funds into employee benefits, they can still make changes now that can have a positive impact.
“Start with the basics,” Ms. Haslam advises. “Normalize taking time off and model it from the top down. When an organization’s leadership and decision makers take vacation and truly disconnect, it sends a powerful signal to employees that rest is encouraged.”
She says the issue of frontloading and backloading just to take vacation is about overall workload management.
“If people are paying a high ‘time-off tax’ to take vacation, that may be a red flag that coverage and capacity among employees needs to be reassessed,” she says.
People leaders can increase employee well-being too, by showing up for their team through small actions. Ms. Haslam suggests setting aside more time to check in on people individually, as well as making time for connection through team-building activities.
She says creating space for employee feedback is also important to ensure support is matching companies’ ambitions and employee expectations.
“When employees see how invested their leaders are in their growth and success, they become more engaged, motivated and committed within their work environment,” she says.
Fast fact
Holiday blues
74 per cent
That’s how many workers said they felt dread or indifference about returning to work and seeing colleagues after the holidays, according to a survey from book summary app company Headway.
Career guidance
Warning signs
Even in a tough job market, it’s important to keep your eye out for signs of a toxic workplace before you accept an offer.
According to this Forbes article, it may be a red flag if the role you’re applying for has been frequently re-listed, the hiring process is chaotic or your interviewers dodge questions about work-life balance.
Quoted
Reshaping work
“I think companies should try offering microshifts (for workers who are in roles where this is possible),” said Clary Tepper, a clinical psychologist and physician well-being coach. “Companies can have clear expectations for what needs to be accomplished. If the employees using microshifts don’t meet those standards, they’ll know that microshifts are not the right style for that employee.”
This HuffPost article looks at how ‘microshifting’ – allowing workers to structure their days in time blocks that allow them to deal with other responsibilities such as caregiving – can boost motivation and productivity while increasing work-life satisfaction.
On our radar
Shut down
Canada has stopped accepting new applications to its Start-up Visa Program, which was the main pathway for immigrant entrepreneurs to get permanent residency if they had support from Canadian investors or incubators. While the program had serious issues such as long wait times and fraud, shutting it down without clear details on a replacement risks pushing away the very founders other countries are actively trying to attract.