Flexible working hours boost employee health
Health benefits when offering flexibility
Having a flexible workplace
initiative improves the health and
wellbeing of employees, according to a new American
study. A flexible workplace initiative was introduced
to more than 600 employees at a large organisation 
and
increased the participating employees’ overall health and
balance between family life and work. Being able
to decide when and where to work also increased their
energy levels at the same time as emotional exhaustion and
psychological distress decreased. Results also
show that they on average got an extra hour of
sleep on nights before work and were more likely to see
their GP when necessary, even when busy.
Professor Phyllis Moen at University of
Minnesota said: “Our study shows that moving from viewing time at
the office as a sign of productivity to emphasising actual results
can create a work environment that fosters healthy behaviour and
wellbeing.
"This has important policy implications,
suggesting that initiatives creating broad access to time
flexibility encourage employees to take better care of
themselves.”
How to promote health in your workplace
Want to create opportunities for better health in your
workplace? Here are a few examples what you can do:
- Read more about how to
gain support from managers and employees.
-
Download our sample health at work policy.
- Create an action plan and revise your plan regularly.
Click here to
access the research study on flexible working.
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story. If you are curious what other workplaces across the
UK have done, check out all our
success stories here.