But 29 percent of respondents reported falling asleep or becoming very sleepy at work during the month before the survey. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said they were very likely to work through their fatigue while on the job, while nearly one-third were very likely to use caffeinated beverages to stay alert. Americans spent about 4.5 hours each week doing additional work from home, on top of an average 9.5 hour workday, the poll found. In all cases, Anderson said, employees known to sleep or become drowsy on the job shouldn’t be around heavy or dangerous machinery and shouldn’t be driving.Īccording to a 2008 poll by the NSF, prolonged workdays that extend into the night may cause Americans to fall asleep at work. While the employee may not finish work in the same manner as others, he or she might be able to produce the same results.Īnother approach is to offer the worker a shift that better accommodates his sleep patterns.Īn employee taking prescription drugs that cause fatigue might want to take a temporary reassignment until she’s finished her medication. They include asthma, fibromyalgia, epilepsy and even attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Īnderson suggested that if an employee with a sleep disorder or medical condition routinely nods off in meetings, managers may want to let him or her record the gatherings and fill in the gaps later. Many medical conditions can also make sleeping difficult.
“The employer and the employee can explore creative ways to meet both parties’ needs.”
#SLEEPING ON THE JOB MEME HOW TO#
“I expect there is no cookie-cutter answer on how to accommodate an employee with narcolepsy,” said Anderson, who acknowledged that it can be difficult for managers in a manufacturing environment to be flexible with workers who have sleep disorders. These and other conditions-sleepwalking, insomnia-may be considered disabilities and protected by state and federal laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which would require an employer to make reasonable accommodations for the worker’s condition. Narcolepsy (a disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep cycles) and sleep apnea (a breathing disorder that interrupts sleep patterns) are two conditions that might contribute to someone being fatigued. Nearly 50 million Americans suffer from sleep problems and disorders that affect their careers, their personal relationships and their safety, the NSF reports. Workers should be disciplined for sleeping on the job for all cases unless they have a condition that is considered a disability that is protected by state and federal laws.” “The employer is not paying for the employee to sleep. “It is not the employer’s responsibility to make allowances for poor planning,” she said. If it appears that the “employee is hung over, or up playing music all night, and cannot stay awake at work, it’s the employee’s poor planning that put them in that situation,” Anderson said. But an anesthesiologist’s patient might have been harmed, and harsher action is probably warranted in that situation. In the first case, the recruiter might need reprimanding. There’s a difference between a recruiter who sleeps on the job at her desk and an anesthesiologist who nods off during an operation. Managers should also ask themselves how serious the potential or real repercussions were because the employee nodded off. Once a manager has identified the reason for the sleepiness, the next task is deciding how best to address it-whether that means discipline, support for the worker or something else.īefore disciplining the employee, managers should ask themselves if the sleeping is an isolated offense or habitual.įor instance, it will take most people a few days to adjust to the loss of one hour of sleep following daylight saving time changes, according to a 2009 study by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). “Offer suggestions to help, and remind the employee that sleeping on the job is unacceptable and what the consequences will be.” “Talk to the employee and find the reason behind them sleeping on the job,” said Laura Anderson, a human resources supervisor at Reno, Nev.-based EE Technologies, an electronics manufacturing company. When an employee sleeps on the job, a manager’s first task is to ascertain the reason for the fatigue: Is the worker hung over because of late-night partying or a second job? Is he suffering from a medical condition such as narcolepsy or sleep apnea? Does she use prescribed drugs or undergo medical procedures that leave her tired? Is he suffering unusual stress or anxiety that makes it hard to sleep? Perhaps life events-like a newborn-mean the worker is pulling all-nighters.
Perhaps they don’t affect his work, but you’re wondering if you should say or do something.
Maybe his naps are interfering with deadlines or meetings. Two or three times a week, you find him in a break room chair, catching some Zs-and not just during the lunch hour.