Investing in your employees’ sleep is investing in the future of your business.
Become a Sleep-friendly Employer
When employees sleep better, their experience and performance at work are improved.
Sleep is the building block for good emotional, mental, and physical health. A lack of quality sleep can have a serious impact on our daily life.
Working-aged adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a night.
Unfortunately, 35% of UK adults sleep less than 7 hours, while half of Britons say they don’t get enough sleep.
The Sleep-friendly Employer scheme is a 3-year workplace wellbeing programme designed to improve your employees’ sleep.
Discover the benefits of healthy sleep for your business
Embed a sleep-friendly culture of supportive attitudes and behaviours towards sleep at all levels of your organisation, and empower employees with a practical understanding of sleep, including strategies and resources to sleep better.
Our Sleep-friendly Employer programme supports organisational health and wellbeing and absence management initiatives by addressing sleep-related issues experienced by your employees that are impacting your business.
What’s involved?
- Employee Sleep Training – Train staff to understand how sleep works, what can affect it, and how to improve their sleep.
- Sleep Champions – Sleep Champions promote healthy behaviours, helping staff manage their sleep.
- Sleep-friendly HR policy information – Establish sleep-friendly HR policies that support menopause, pregnancy, shift work.
- Annual Sleep Workshops – Embed good attitudes and behaviours towards sleep at all levels of your organisation.
It's time to invest in good sleep.
Sleep-related issues cost employers approximately £1,248, per employee, annually.
Fatigue and exhaustion are leading causes of workplace accidents, and tired employees can easily make mistakes that cost your business big.
Sleep Healthy Webinars
Introduce your organisation to the basics of good sleep and strategies to sleeping better with expert-led webinars.
Learn more
Sleep-friendly Employer programme
Embed a culture of better sleep for a happy, healthy, motivated, and safe workforce
Get startedFAQs
How does sleep increase organisational risk?
When employees struggle with their sleep it puts your organisation at risk – fatigue and exhaustion are leading causes of workplace accidents. A tired and frustrated employee can easily make a mistake that costs your business.
When your employees struggle with their sleep, their experience and performance at work is affected, putting your organisation at risk.
Research has shown poor sleep is associated with:
- reduced concentration, shorter attention spans, impaired problem-solving and poorer decision-making
- lower reaction times and alertness
- negative mood and poor mental and physical health
- difficulties with social interactions in the workplace
This can lead to:
- impaired performance at work
- workplace accidents and mistakes
- low engagement and morale
- increased risk of sickness, absences, and early retirement
- tiredness, burnout, and quiet quitting
How does sleep impact the health and wellbeing of my employees?
Sleep is fundamental to our health. When we don’t sleep well, it can impact our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
During sleep:
- Our body repairs itself and releases hormones, and boosts our immune system and metabolism, helping to regulate our weight and reduce the chances of cardiovascular disease and diabetes
- Our brain regulates your mood, reducing stress, and consolidating the day’s memories, improving our concentration
A lack of good sleep is a compounding issue. When we don’t sleep well, we enter a cycle of being unable to sleep, causing further sleep deprivation, poor health, leading to worse sleep.
I already have another health and wellbeing initiative in place. How does the Sleep-friendly Employer programme affect this?
The Sleep-friendly Employer programme is the perfect compliment to on-going health and wellbeing initiatives.
The Sleep-friendly Employer programme supports the delivery of organisational improvements in wellbeing and health and absence management agendas by addressing poor employee sleep and its related issues. Because sleep is fundamental to our overall health, addressing poor sleep is the perfect way to support other wellbeing initiatives.
What time commitments are involved?
- Sleep Champion training is delivered over one half day of online training. Sleep Champions are expected to support employees in the course of their regular duties. Training will include how to discuss sleep with employees and the steps to support improving sleep through individualised sleep plans.
- Individual employee training takes around 1.5 hours.
How do I measure the success of the Sleep-friendly Employer programme
A key part of the Sleep-friendly Employer programme is reviewing your employees’ sleep health. We recommend employers include questions about employee sleep in annual staff surveys.
The fact is, on average, poor sleep costs businesses £1,248 per employee, per year. Our training addresses sleep-related issues experienced by your employees that are impacting your business. Investing in your employees’ sleep is investing in the future of your business.
How long does Sleep-friendly Employer accreditation last?
The Sleep-friendly Employer scheme is a 3-year workplace wellbeing programme. Sleep-friendly Employer accreditation lasts for three years. After this period, a re-accreditation fee is applicable. At that time, employers must evidence they still meet accreditation requirements, and fees may apply for additional Sleep Champion training if required.
What is involved in Sleep-friendly Employer accreditation?
To become an accredited employer:
- Follow the ‘Enquire now’ link above and complete the form. The cost of accreditation is based on the size of your organisation
- Introduce your managers and supervisors to the Sleep-friendly Employer via a 30-min introductory session
- Nominate members of your staff to become Sleep Champions and select the available training dates for them to attend
- Follow the steps provided by Sleep Action to give your workforce access to the self-led sleep training
- Implement the guidance provided by Sleep Action around Sleep-friendly HR policies
- Share the quarterly communication healthy sleep packs with your employees
How your investment is used
As a charity, Sleep Action believes everyone deserves a good night’s sleep.
As a charity, Sleep Action’s priority is not profit. Instead, we focus on improving the lives of those who access our services. We believe that by keeping our prices as low as possible, we can improve sleep for as many people as possible.
Funds generated through the Sleep-friendly Employer programme are reinvested in the charity to enhance and expand our Sleep Support Line and our Sleep Counsellor Training, which supports the sleep of adults and children across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
When you invest in improving your employees’ sleep, you’re supporting Sleep Action’s efforts to ensure everyone can thrive through healthy sleep.
Learn more about what we do here.
