76% of Canadian employees work while tired

According to a new survey by staffing firm Accountemps, three-quarters (76 per cent) of Canadian employees said they regularly go to work tired.     

The survey, which consulted more than 550 office workers in Canada, found 31 per cent of respondents said they work while tired “very often” and 45 per cent said they do so “somewhat often”. Only one per cent of respondents said they never work while tired and the remaining 23 per cent said they don’t work while tired “very often”.  

“A good night’s rest has a tangible effect on quality of work — exhaustion often limits professionals’ ability to be focused, productive and positive members of their team,” said David King, Canadian president of Accountemps, in a press release. “Managers should be alert to signs of employee fatigue and work with staff to identify potential contributing factors in the workplace’.  So, what can we do about it? 

According to Mr. King, “by offering realistic support; like temporary professionals to assist when workloads rise, guidance in prioritizing tight deadlines and encouraging employees to unplug after-hours, employers can help mitigate any work-related stressors keeping staff up at night.”

Sleep a serious issue with major productivity costs for employers – a pilot project conducted by DesJardins Insurance 

Sonya Felix | December 20, 2017

Sleep isn’t a luxury.  When compared to other important health factors, it is equally important as exercise and eating well.  Lack of sleep costs employers about $5,000 in lost productivity per employee per year and, with a significant link between insomnia and mental illness – so it’s time to take sleep disorders seriously.  Ideally, we need seven to nine hours of sleep a night to recuperate and rebuild cognitive capacities, but studies show that 40 per cent of adult Canadians sleep poorly or not enough.  

There are three major sleep disorders that affect the workplace: trouble sleeping, chronic insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea.  

Between trouble sleeping, chronic insomnia and sleep apnea, three-quarters of Canadians sleep less than the recommended seven hours a night.  Employers and insurers should be concerned, because there are direct consequences for the workplace, particularly for safety, productivity and even group benefit insurance costs.  Studies show that insomnia alone is responsible for 25 per cent of the costs related to errors and accidents at work and poor sleep also contributes to absenteeism and presenteeism.  

In 2017, Desjardins conducted a five-month sleep screening pilot project with their employees.  Of the employees who participated, 35% had sleep related issues that required they contact a sleep specialist and of this group, 83% per cent also suffered from symptoms of moderate to severe psychological distress.  In addition, with this group, presenteeism and absenteeism costs were 34 per cent higher.

“These sleep-deprived people show up to work but suffer from serious presenteeism,” said Josée Dixon, Executive VP of Group and Business Insurance at Desjardins Insurance, and presenteeism is proving to be as serious a dampener on productivity as absenteeism. This study calculated 28 days of presenteeism in a year for poor sleepers as opposed to three days for those who sleep well.  

In addition, sleep disorders have become a serious public health problem, said Dixon. 

“But despite its potential adverse effects on mental health, physical well-being and productivity, sleep, or the lack of it thereof, has yet to receive the attention other chronic illnesses do.” Research, Dixon noted, shows a close link between mental illness and sleep. “People with insomnia are 10 times more likely to have clinical depression and 17 times more likely to have clinical anxiety,” she said.

In turn, mental-health problems have become the number one cause of disability claims. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, absenteeism and presenteeism due to mental-health issues account for $6 billion in lost productivity.

In fact, the link between sleep disturbances and depression is so strong, Dixon added, that some researchers say doctors should be cautious about diagnosing depression if the patient doesn’t suffer from sleep complaints. Sleep disorders can also hinder treatment. “Even if the patient’s depression does improve, they have an increased risk of relapse and recurrence if their sleep problems persist.”’

In an attempt to gain understanding of these problems affecting their employees, Desjardin’s pilot project sought to study whether treating insomnia would improve productivity and mental-health outcomes for people with depression and anxiety.

Once they received the results and had identified 35% of employees with sleep related issues, they offered them evaluation, diagnosis and treatment with registered therapists remotely through digital devices.  89 per cent of those who went through the program and completed treatment saw improvements in their sleep, with significant reductions in the number of people ranked as having severe insomnia.  Among those who completed treatment, the results also showed a roughly 50 per cent decrease in the number of people experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress. While the therapy was not intended to treat mental-health issues directly, it’s clear when you treat the sleep disorder, you also alleviate a lot of the symptoms that aggravate depression, anxiety or other mental-health issues.  

Desjardins has since expanded the program to a larger group of its employees. “Given that mental-health problems are the No. 1 cause of group insurance disability claims, being able to help people before they become absent from work – due to stress or other psychological disorders – is very rewarding,” said Dixon.