Can Flexible Working Benefit You?
New research shows that people who can set up their working hours according to their personal preferences tend to fare better than others in terms of health. Blood pressure, sleep habits, as well as mental health improve considerably. All that is required for this to turn into a reality is for employees to have a saying in the way their work patterns are set up.
Scientists know that having flexible types of policies are beneficial to the employees, but they underline the fact that the exact mechanisms through which this allows people to have a better health status need to be understood in more details. Flexible working seems to be more beneficial for health and well being where the individuals control their own work patterns, rather than where employers are in control.
“We need to know more about how the health effects of flexible working are experienced by different types of workers, for instance, comparing women to men, old to young and skilled to unskilled. This is important as some forms of flexible working might only be available to employees with higher status occupations and this may serve to increase existing differences in health between social groups,” says reseacher Kerry Joyce.
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July 14th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I’m absolutely in favour in working the hours that you prefer. We all have different body rhythms and better moments of productivity. Massage therapists are lucky in that we can set our own hours that work for us.
September 9th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Definatley. In modern day society and given the busy lives we now lead, time is of the essence. Offering even small concessions with the parameters of the working day can have a huge impact on how people perform. Flexible start times, finish times and lunchtimes provide staff with the opportunity to get to the gym, spend quality time with the family, do something social or even get ahead with some domestic chores. Breaking up the working day with short bursts of non-work related tasks can also help with creativity and productivity and can reduce stress levels by providing the brain with effective periods of recovery.