EMPLOYERS scrambling to hold onto workers during the Great Resignation should take a hard look inward. The biggest predictor of employee attrition isn’t pay, a new analysis finds, but toxic workplace culture.

Higher wages are certainly an important factor driving millions of people around the world to quit their jobs. But an analysis of more than 1.4 million Glassdoor reviews for companies across 38 industries found that company culture is 12.4 times more likely than compensation to predict whether an employee leaves. This held true for workers in both front-line and so-called knowledge worker jobs.

“Compensation is at best a moderate predictor of attrition,” said Donald Sull, a co-founder of CultureX, an analytics company that performed the survey released on Tuesday. To compile the data, CultureX looked at Glassdoor reviews by former employees using a human resources database system at Revelio Labs. Among things that kept people around: Predictable job schedules, job growth and recognition.

Toxic workplace culture was defined by abusive leadership, a cutthroat environment, or discrimination and harassment, Mr. Sull said.

Low-wage industries, such as leisure and hospitality, are seeing some of the highest turnover rates, as are high-burnout sectors, like health care and education. The lowest earners have also seen the biggest wage gains in the last 12 months, leading economists to believe that many people are leaving their jobs for better paying ones.

Job insecurity, failure to recognize employee performance, and a poor response to Covid-19 were also predictors of high quit rates, the CultureX survey found.

Tesla, Inc. and Netflix, Inc. showed higher attrition rates than other companies within their industries, which may be due in part to the competitive nature of those workplaces. “The goals are very ambitious, [and there are] long hours, a lot of pressure,” Mr. Sull said. “That pace may be harder for people to sustain over the long term.” — Bloomberg

QUEBEC, Canada’s second most populous province, is planning to force adults refusing to get COVID-19 vaccinated pay a “health contribution” in a move likely to spur a debate about individual rights and social responsibility.

Premier Francois Legault told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday that the proposal, details of which were still being finalized, would not apply to those who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons.

Unvaccinated people put a financial burden on others and the provincial finance ministry is determining a “significant” amount that unvaccinated residents would be required to pay, Mr. Legault said, adding that such an amount would not be less than C$100 ($79.50).

Governments globally have imposed movement restrictions on the unvaccinated and few have levied fines on the elderly, but a sweeping tax on all unvaccinated adults could be a rare and controversial move.

While such a tax could be justified in the context of a health emergency, McGill University medicine and health sciences professor Carolyn Ells said, whether it survives a court challenge would depend on the details.

But Ms. Ells expressed surprise that the government was taking such a “dramatic” step now, when options such as further expanding vaccine mandates remain.

Provinces across Canada are tackling an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases that has forced tens of thousands of people into isolation and burdened the healthcare sector.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant has made it difficult for restrictive measures to curb the spread and health experts have stressed the importance of getting double and tripled vaccinated.

Quebec has been one of the worst-hit, regularly recording the highest daily count of coronavirus cases of all provinces and having several thousand healthcare workers off their jobs.

“The vaccine is the key to fight the virus. This is why we’re looking for a health contribution for adults who refuse to be vaccinated for non-medical reasons,” Mr. Legault said.

Mr. Legault said that even though the province has about 10% unvaccinated people, they account for about 50% of those in intensive care units.

Mr. Legault and his CAQ party face a provincial election in October.

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the federal government had secured enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for all eligible Canadians to receive a booster as well as a fourth dose.

Last month, Quebec said it had “no choice” but to allow some essential workers to continue working even after testing positive for COVID-19 to prevent staff shortages from impeding its healthcare services. It has also imposed curbs on gathering. — Reuters