Employers should provide quiet spaces at work that will help staff to switch off so they can sleep better at night, according to the first guidance of its kind.
Workers should have areas for mindfulness or rest, the advice says. This could boost productivity by improving performance and customer service.
Managers should be encouraged to ask staff about their sleep habits and be trained to spot signs of sleep deprivation, says the guidance, drawn up by Business in the Community, an employers’ organisation, with Public Health England. The advice also warns against sending non-urgent work emails out of hours.
Some organisations offer beds or chairs where staff can take a nap during breaks, although only in environments where key staff work long shifts, such as air traffic controllers and junior doctors in Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust.
The advice does not suggest other employers follow suit but says workplaces should have “quiet spaces for rest and relaxation where employees can switch off from work for a period”.
Lack of sleep can be a symptom of mental health problems. Employers have been advised to look out for signs
Justin Varney, of Public Health England, said some American companies offered sleeping pods or nap chairs, but evidence of the benefits was not clear enough to advocate this more widely. The advice was more about spaces for relaxation.
The guidance was prompted by research last year by Sainsbury’s showing that getting enough good sleep is the factor, among those that people can control, that has the strongest association with happiness.
There has been heightened business interest in sleep after António Horta Osório, chief executive of Lloyds bank, took two months off after stress-related sleep deprivation. He has said that he did not sleep for five days as he battled to turn the bank around in 2011.
Employers have been urged to consider “sleep audits” to see if staff are getting proper rest and the guidance suggests they share advice on sleeping well, such as having a fixed bedtime and not checking emails or watching TV in bed.
It acknowledges the issue is sensitive as disrupted sleep can be linked to pregnancy, menopause, older age, or be a symptom of mental illness. It says employers should train managers to spot staff who are not sleeping well and offer help such as adjusting their workload, moving them to another role or offering leave if the problems are stress-related.
Peter Simpson, managing director of Anglian Water, which has put the advice into practice, said it had improved productivity, customer service and decision-making. “The conversations we have are ones that talk about what the benefits are to employees and also quite openly what the benefits are to the business but not in a way that says, ‘Thou shalt do this, thou shalt do that’,” he said.
The guidance was prompted by research last year by Sainsbury’s showing that getting enough good sleep is the factor, among those that people can control, that has the strongest association with happiness.
There has been heightened business interest in sleep after António Horta Osório, chief executive of Lloyds bank, took two months off after stress-related sleep deprivation. He has said that he did not sleep for five days as he battled to turn the bank around in 2011.
Employers have been urged to consider “sleep audits” to see if staff are getting proper rest and the guidance suggests they share advice on sleeping well, such as having a fixed bedtime and not checking emails or watching TV in bed.
It acknowledges the issue is sensitive as disrupted sleep can be linked to pregnancy, menopause, older age, or be a symptom of mental illness. It says employers should train managers to spot staff who are not sleeping well and offer help such as adjusting their workload, moving them to another role or offering leave if the problems are stress-related.
Peter Simpson, managing director of Anglian Water, which has put the advice into practice, said it had improved productivity, customer service and decision-making. “The conversations we have are ones that talk about what the benefits are to employees and also quite openly what the benefits are to the business but not in a way that says, ‘Thou shalt do this, thou shalt do that’,” he said.
Tips for bedtime
- Have fixed times for going to bed and waking up
- Keep to a relaxing bedtime routine
- Avoid caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and a meal late at night
- Turn off devices an hour before bedtime
- Don’t watch television, make calls or read emails in bed
- Don’t use a smartphone as an alarm
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