We should all take more days off

Re: “Trudeau takes day off in Japan for anniversary” (Montreal Gazette, May 25)

I applaud Justin Trudeau for being brazen enough to let the world know that it’s OK to take one day off, and not because he has the stomach flu. What a refreshing change.

And change is what is needed from employers to provide a supportive atmosphere that is conducive to feeling it’s OK to take a day off to spend time with an ailing or lonely parent or sick child or simply because you need a day for yourself.

Studies have shown that many Canadians don’t take all their vacation time. They say they are too busy at work; they would have to do too much to leave; they dread coming back to a huge pile of work. Farther down the list was affordability.

There’s even a term — “work martyrs” — to describe employees who think no one can replace them. But not taking vacation makes workers a liability, studies are finding, with a lack of healthy time off being linked to depression and burnout.

Employers need to encourage employees to look after themselves.

What I would have given to be able to spend more time with my parents, to have felt it was OK to take random days off to just take my mom to see an afternoon movie or just to spend a lazy summer afternoon drinking iced tea. It’s something to reflect upon as I sip my frappé alone. Wendy Reichental, Dollard-des-Ormeaux