Many employees are lacking a balance between work and the rest of their lives.

• In a global study by AC Nielsen, more than half of people making New Year’s resolutions for 2007 aimed for a better work-life balance.

• The Work-Life Compendium 2001, compiled by the Centre for Families, Work and Well-being at Guelph University, states that 58% of Canadians report “overload” associated with their many roles - work, home and family, friends, physical health, volunteer and community service.

Business suffers when employees don’t have work/life balance.

• The Conference Board of Canada found that workers who reported a high degree of stress balancing their work and family life missed 7.2 days of work each year, while those who reported very little stress only missed an average of 3.6 days.

• According to the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, disability costs represent 12% of payroll costs, and mental health claims, particularly depression, are the fastest growing category of disability costs in Canada.

• According to Statistics Canada, employees who considered most of their days to be quite a bit or extremely stressful were over 3 times more likely to suffer a major depressive episode, compared with those who reported low levels of general stress.

Financial issues are a major cause of stress.

• A survey by Desjardins Financial Security showed that money is the main cause of stress outside work.  Nearly half of respondents cited money issues as their top stressor.

• The Desjardins survey also found that 37% of Canadians who did not take time off when they experienced physical health problems related to stress, anxiety or depression felt they couldn’t because they needed the income.