College Professional Staff Overwork Generates Exhaustion and Illness
Thursday, 20 June 2019 08:00.AM
- Survey of college professional staff - Overwork that generates exhaustion and illness.
A survey conducted by the Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges (FPPC-CSQ) among its members show that many of them are suffering more and more from exhaustion caused by overwork and a shortage of staff.
The FPPC-CSQ distributed a questionnaire to its 1,300 members to which 572 of them responded. The objective was to verify the effects of the workload on professional staff.
The first observation from the responses was that the vast majority of respondents have to work overtime in order to carry out their duties. In fact, 85 % of them worked overtime in the last six months. On average, this translates into about 6.5 extra hours a week, the equivalent of nearly a full day's work. More than a third (2.3 hours) of these extra work hours are never reported and therefore unpaid by the employer.
Testimonials gathered during the survey revealed a state of chronic overload, with one respondent stating that "it's not occasional extra work, it's become part of the job."
Health implications
This work overload is not without consequences since 52.5 % of respondents said that at least once a week in the last six months they felt completely exhausted at the end of their workday.
The situation is so serious that nearly one in three professionals used psychological support in the last year, either through the Employee Assistance Program or from an external professional resource. Unfortunately, many crack under the strain, with work overload resulting in longer absences for medical reasons, 7.7 % of those surveyed having had to take a medical leave for a full month or more during the last year.
Also, in the last year, 15.6 % of respondents preferred taking advantage of the working hour reduction voluntary program to prevent a complete work stoppage due to illness.
Meeting the needs of CEGEPs and the student population
In terms of solutions, the testimonials gathered are unequivocal - the first measure to consider is the addition of professionals within the teams. Additional staffing is required to enable colleges to fulfill their mission and maintain an adequate level of service for students.
For FPPC-CSQ president Suzanne Tousignant, the survey results are clear: "College management must take measures to reduce the workload imposed on professional staff. Our members have told us, the current workload is unhealthy and affects their health. Employers are responsible for ensuring the health of their staff. "
Work overload at the core of negotiations
The President of the FPPC-CSQ is currently conducting a consultation tour with all of the federation's unions and their members to prepare for the upcoming negotiations. "Overwork is one of our concerns and we are in the process of establishing a series of measures that we will be asking for in our upcoming discussions with the employer," Suzanne Tousignant concludes.
FPPC-CSQ profile
The Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges (FPPC-CSQ) represents two-thirds of CEGEP professional staff in the college network, that is, more than 1,300 professionals in 35 unions. It represents exclusively professional CEGEP staff.
SOURCE Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges (FPPC-CSQ)