As poor sleep health continues to impact employee productivity and well-being, there’s an opportunity for employers to help workers get the rest they need through existing benefits offerings, according to a new survey from Sun Life Financial Inc.
The survey, which polled nearly 2,000 employees and roughly 400 employers, found a third (33 per cent) of Canadian employees said their quality of sleep is negatively impacting their work, losing an average of seven hours of productivity per week due to poor sleep.
Nearly two-fifths said poor sleep negatively impacts their mental health (39 per cent) and physical health (36 per cent), while a quarter (25 per cent) said it impacts their financial health.
Read: My Take: A good night’s sleep goes a long way in supporting employees’ physical, mental health
“[Sleep] is one of the most underestimated risks to workplace health and performance, yet it affects nearly half of the workforce,” says Erin Crump, vice-president of market development at Sun Life. “But there’s an opportunity here for employers to raise awareness of the importance of sleep on well-being and to really connect the dots between those issues that may be impacting [employees] and the supports that are available to them.”
The survey noted poor sleep rarely exists in isolation. Instead, it often overlaps with mental-health challenges, chronic conditions and major life transitions, amplifying health risks for both employees and employers. While a fifth (20 per cent) of all employees meet the criteria for clinical insomnia, a third of women experiencing perimenopause or menopause and employees with chronic conditions (33 per cent each) experience clinical insomnia.
Without proper support, organizations face higher absenteeism, lower engagement and a greater risk of losing experienced talent. Despite the growing impact of sleep disruption, a significant awareness gap remains. Nearly nine in 10 employers believe group benefits could support sleep health, but two-thirds are unsure how their plans can help.
Read: 2024 Mental Health Summit: Examining the link between poor sleep and mental health
Crump notes many of the resources that can help support employees’ sleep hygiene are already available in the majority of employers’ benefits plans.
“Employee assistance programs are a great place to start for a lot of employers and employees — they provide broad access for plan members and their dependants to confidential and personalized support and [they’re] designed to address a number of those challenges that we know are impacting employees’ sleep, such as mental-health challenges and financial wellness.”
In addition to EAPs, offerings such as virtual health care and coverage for mental-health counselling can also help support workers experiencing difficulty sleeping by addressing underlying causes.
Read: Back to basics on sleep
Communication about available benefits as well as workplace discussions about the impact of sleep on health and productivity are also key, she says.
“It’s not about creating new solutions or having a new [benefit],” says Crump. “It really starts with normalizing these conversations around what employees’ health challenges are and how they show up at work — and that really starts with leadership being open and talking about these issues.
“I think there’s an opportunity for employers to really review and take stock of their existing benefits and identifying the [resources] they already have that can support sleep, identifying gaps and telling employees how to access [these benefits]. Employees, especially when they’re struggling, don’t always know where to go to access the supports they need.”
Read: Editorial: Sleep is the best medicine in an increasingly foreboding world