According to the 2015 Sun Life Canadian Health Index, more than four out of every five Canadians believe that employers are responsible for supporting their employees’ physical and mental health.

“It is striking that our results show that 84 per cent of Canadians say that employers are responsible for supporting their employees’ physical health and that 86 per cent feel the same way when asked about psychological health,” said Kevin Dougherty, president of Sun Life Financial Canada, in a press release.

When split by age group, the results indicate that 38 per cent of Generation Y (18 to 30 years old) respondents believe employers hold a significant responsibility for their employees’ physical health, while 37 per cent said they should be responsible for employees’ psychological health. These numbers were higher than in every other age group.

The survey also pointed out a relationship between health and employee productivity. Over a third of respondents said their work productivity has been negatively impacted by their physical or mental health in the last six months. In particular, 47 per cent of Gen Y respondents said their health had negatively affected work productivity, compared to 30 per cent of Late Boomers (48 to 57 years old) and 26 per cent of Early Boomers (58 to 66 years old).

As a result, several companies that work with Sun Life have decided to take steps to support their employees’ health, according to a statement from the company.

The Sun Life Canadian Health Index is based on the results of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted from June 15 to 23, 2015, on a sample of 2,404 Canadians that are between 18 and 80 years of age. For more results, visit www.sunlife.ca/CanadianHealthIndex.