Dialogue Health Technologies Inc. says declining health among Canadian employees has led to working Canadians being more health conscious than ever before. Their most recent annual survey, The 2024 state of workplace health and wellness in Canada, found that 56 per cent of those surveyed were more conscious of their health in 2021. This number spikes to 71 per cent in the February 2024 survey.

Conducted by Environics Research, the survey of 1,027 employed Canadians and 86 human resources (HR) representatives further finds that Canadians expect their employers to provide key benefits and support in 2024 – 47 per cent said they are interested in improving their well- being and plan on using workplace benefits to do so.

Notably, however, a gap exists between HR and employee perceptions about the adequacy of the benefits being provided.

Dissatisfaction with current level of support 

“Canadians report dissatisfaction with their current level of support: Half view their overall benefit plans as insufficient or state that they don’t meet their well-being needs; four in 10 report that their employers do not prioritize employee mental health and only 18 per cent indicate their managers are equipped to recognised and support employees’ mental health,” the researchers state in an announcement about the survey’s publication.

HR teams, meanwhile, find it difficult to measure the impact of their employee benefits plans, according to 65 per cent of the HR professionals surveyed.

Disconnect between employer and employee perceptions 

In looking at mental health alone, the disconnect between employer and employee perceptions becomes more apparent – while 86 per cent of HR professionals say their organizations value employee mental health, only 37 per cent of working Canadians say mental health is a priority for their employers.

Employees who view their mental health benefits as insufficient rose from 25 per cent in 2021 to 31 per cent today. Even some HR professionals agree – one in three continue to view their workplace mental health benefits as insufficient.

A preference for virtual care 

“This situation underscores the need for a thorough review and enhancement of workplace benefits. Improving these benefits is crucial for reducing absenteeism, turnover and productivity losses and for closing innovation gaps,” they state. The virtual healthcare and wellness platform’s researchers also say eight in 10 of those surveyed expressed a preference for virtual care.