Why Sleep Matters: A Business Case for Prioritising Rest in the Workplace
May, 2025
Sleep is one of the most under-recognised factors influencing employee performance, safety, and wellbeing.
In today’s always-on culture, sleep is often sacrificed in favour of productivity. However, the reality is that poor sleep does not just affect the individual, it affects the entire organisation. For employers, understanding the role of sleep is not just a matter of employee welfare; it’s a matter of business performance and risk mitigation.
The Science Behind Sleep and Function
Sleep is not merely rest. It’s a biological necessity during which the brain and body undergo critical recovery processes. Sleep helps regulate mood, support immune function, repair muscle tissue, and most importantly for the workplace — optimise cognitive function.
When employees do not get enough quality sleep, their attention span, memory, emotional regulation, and decision-making abilities suffer. In high-pressure or safety-critical environments, this can have dangerous consequences.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function to a degree equivalent to, or worse than, alcohol intoxication. A report from the Harvard Medical School found that being awake for 20 hours impairs performance as much as having a blood alcohol level of 0.1%—well above the UK’s legal driving limit.
Impact on Workplace Performance
1. Reduced Productivity and Efficiency
Sleep-deprived employees are slower, less accurate, and more likely to make mistakes. They take longer to complete tasks and often require more supervision. Chronic poor sleep is linked to reduced work output and presenteeism—being at work, but not functioning effectively.
2. Increased Absenteeism and Presenteeism
According to data from the RAND Corporation, employees who sleep less than six hours a night lose the equivalent of six additional working days per year through absenteeism or reduced performance. Over a workforce, this adds up to substantial operational costs.
3. Greater Risk of Accidents
For roles involving machinery, vehicles, or high-stakes decision-making, poor sleep significantly increases the risk of workplace incidents. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recognises fatigue as a key contributor to workplace accidents and injuries—particularly in sectors like transport, manufacturing, and construction.
4. Impaired Mental Health and Burnout
Sleep is directly linked to emotional resilience. Inadequate sleep increases the risk of stress, anxiety, and depression—conditions which already account for a large percentage of long-term sickness absence in the UK. Poor sleep quality has also been identified as a predictor of burnout in employees across various industries.
The Role of Employers
Employers may not be able to control what time employees go to bed—but they can influence sleep outcomes by fostering a culture that values recovery.
This includes:
Promoting awareness of sleep as a performance factor.
Avoiding practices that encourage overwork or night-time email culture.
Designing shift patterns that respect circadian rhythms.
Supporting employee wellbeing through education, flexibility, and the use of health insights where appropriate.
Recognising when someone may be physiologically under-recovered—before visible signs emerge—is increasingly important. While traditional HR policies focus on sickness once it occurs, forward-thinking companies are now considering how to detect early signs of strain, including through aggregated sleep data and wellbeing indicators.
The Bottom Line
Sleep is not a luxury—it is a cornerstone of employee performance and organisational safety. By treating it as a strategic health factor, business leaders can reduce risk, improve productivity, and enhance employee wellbeing in measurable ways.
When employees sleep better, they work better. It’s as simple and as powerful as that.
