Flexible working boosts health - and sleep

Flexible workplaces can improve employees’ health and well-being and help them get better sleep, according to a new study by the University of Minnesota.

The study by sociology professors Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen appears in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. The researcher says a focus on results rather than presenteeism "can create a work environment that fosters healthy behavior and well-being". Moen says: “This has important policy implications, suggesting that initiatives creating broad access to time flexibility encourage employees to take better care of themselves.”

They studied over 600 employees at an office which in 2005 redirected the focus of employees and managers toward measurable results and away from when and where work was completed. Under the initiative, employees were allowed to routinely change when and where they worked based on their individual needs and job responsibilities without seeking permission from a manager or even notifying one.

The researchers found:

- Employees participating in the initiative reported getting almost an extra hour (52 minutes) of sleep on nights before work.

- Employees participating in the initiative managed their health differently: They were less likely to feel obligated to work when sick and more likely to go to a doctor when necessary, even when busy.

- The flexible workplace initiative increased employees’ sense of schedule control and reduced their work-family conflict. This improved their sleep quality, energy levels, self-reported health, and sense of personal mastery while decreasing their emotional exhaustion and psychological distress.

- “Narrower flexibility policies allow some ‘accommodations’ for family needs, but are less likely to promote employee health and well-being or to be available to all employees,” says Kelly.