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| Thursday, 16 July 2009 00:26 | |||||
It’s summer time! To take advantage of the hot weather, many of us have planned to go camping and long-driving. As a matter of fact, a lot of employees have started dropping like flies from work as early as May to go on vacation outside of the country. However you will notice that there are still a few people who haven’t booked their dates yet. Did you know that the average Canadian works some 1,750 hours per year, 300 hours more per year than the average French or German worker? This is the third-longest working year of any advanced democracy after the United States and Australia. Based on a Statistics Canada study involving a 2005 telephone survey of 19,500 paid Canadian workers between the ages of 25 and 54, it was found that people in the Prairies work the most hours in the country, while Quebecois work the fewest. In the Prairies, 12 per cent of workers reported working very long hours. That is equivalent to more than 2,300 hours a year, or 44 hours a week. By contrast, only six per cent of Quebecois reported working that many hours. For a healthier and more productive workforce, people need to be able to take care of themselves and take advantage of holidays when they can. Scientific studies show that men and women who take vacations live longer than those who do not. In an article written by Dr. Mel Borins, M.D., author of Go Away Just for the Health of It, he indicated studies that show employee vacations could benefit employers as well. He cites a 1997 medical study that found employee burnout rates decrease significantly during vacations and that life satisfaction increases. Additional studies, he says, show that after a vacation, employees find their work more interesting and become more efficient at work. There is increasing evidence that vacations are really necessary for good health. Using the Framingham heart Study in 1948, the researchers examined a questionnaire the women in the study had filled out over 20 years about how they took their vacations. Those who took a vacation once every six years or less were highly likely to develop coronary heart disease than those who took at least two vacations a year. Although vacations are a time to relax and reduce stress, many workers have a hard time leaving their work behind. This is especially true for small business owners as well as some office and management personnel who have few resources to help carry the workload in their absence. Filipinos are hard working by nature and by culture and we represent a huge contingent of manpower in healthcare, production, manufacturing, and other industries in Manitoba and around the globe. It’s very typical to see a kababayan working two shifts or extra seasonal jobs. However, a fine line needs to be drawn between working hard and working too much. Sources: Michele Majul is an HR Professional with Canada Post Corporation in the Prairie Region. She graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and a Certificate in Human Resource Management
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