A significant number of employees admit that their workplace performance has been eroded by the stress of their personal financial situation, a report from the Canadian Payroll Association says.

Association president Peter Tzanetakis said the annual survey paid increased attention to how much time Canadian employees are distracted by their personal financial situation.

Nearly one-quarter of nearly 4,285 employed people surveyed said they agreed or strongly agreed that stress about personal finances had an impact on their performance at work with about 70 per cent indicating such matters occupy up to 30 minutes of a typical work day.

And about 43 per cent of respondents agreed that 鈥漵tress related to personal finances has had an impact on my workplace performance.鈥�

The rising costs of living and overwhelming debt were among the biggest sources of stress identified by the online survey conducted by Framework Partners between April 24 and June 18.

鈥淭he key message has always been that 鈥� over 40 per cent of Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque,鈥� Tzanetakis said in an interview ahead of the survey鈥檚 release Wednesday.

鈥淏ut as the survey has evolved over the years, we鈥檝e gone a little bit deeper to understand some of the sources of the financial stress 鈥� and also some solutions as well.鈥�

The 2019 survey found, among other things, that 40 per cent of respondents felt 鈥渙verwhelmed鈥� by their debts to some degree 鈥� including nine per cent who 鈥漵trongly agreed鈥� they felt that way.

Tzanetakis said, apart from the amount of debt, there鈥檚 a concern about the nature of the debt 鈥� with one in three saying they carried credit card debt, which may charge a higher rate of interest than mortgages, lines of credit or vehicle loans.

鈥淎nd four in 10 (with credit card debt) say it鈥檚 going to take more than a year to pay it off. I think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 leading to this feeling of being overwhelmed by debt.鈥�

The survey also found 43 per cent would have trouble if their paycheque was delayed by a week, including 13 per cent who indicated it would be 鈥渧ery鈥� difficult.

About one-quarter of respondents said they spent all of their net pay from each period and nearly two-thirds of respondents said they spend less than their net pay in a typical pay period.

The survey cannot be assigned a margin of error because online polls are not considered random samples.

Tzanetakis said about 55 per cent of Canadian businesses offer to automatically move some of an employee鈥檚 pay into a separate account to encourage savings but only about one in three Canadian employees participate.

鈥淪o there鈥檚 still lots of room for improvement. We鈥檙e encouraging employers to really look at that and use the expertise in their payroll departments to set up such a plan and manage it for them,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t really does contribute to an alleviation of some financial stress if you鈥檙e not worrying about savings as much.鈥�

The survey also found about three-quarters of respondents would be interested in general financial education programs in the workplace, including 27 per cent who said they鈥檇 be 鈥渧ery鈥� interested.

鈥淐ertainly there鈥檚 a role for government and the educational system. 鈥� We鈥檙e just trying to raise awareness among all stakeholders at this point in time.鈥�

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The Canadian Press

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