By law employers should offer their employees an alternative working lifestyle routine. For many people working from 9am to 5pm can be very daunting. In countries such as the UK, during the winter months, you leave for work when it’s dark and get home when it’s dark. There is no light in people’s lives. When you return from work you are so drained out and tired that you can’t give quality time to your kids.
Working from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday has proven to cause many problems in society, from physical and mental health issues to social and domestic issues.
However there is an alternative working lifestyle routine which can significantly improve the quality of life of employees as well as have a positive impact of companies and the economy as a whole.
Below is a detailed list of some of the benefits of offering employees on a 9am-5pm contract a 6am-2pm alternative.
Benefits for Employers:
- Employees are more active during the day. They will get more done and deliver better quality work. Charles Dickens was a lark (early riser). He finished his writing by 2:00 p.m. each day.1
- Not everyone will opt in for the change in working lifestyle routine. Not everyone is a ‘morning person’. So you will not have to restructure your organisation much.
- You could advice your employees to take the 6am-2pm routine twice a week. The routine could be rotated between employees so only 50% of your employees are on the routine at any given time.
- You will be able to keep your business/ organisation open for longer. Imagine being able to start trading at 6am.
- You will have happier employees who will enjoy coming to work every day.
- If as an employer you yourself decide to work from 6am-2pm you will also have the below benefits for employees.
Benefits for Employees:
- More daylight hours. Daylight and sunshine has proven to reduce stress levels, improve health and generally make people happier (You need to actually be out in the sun. Not behind a desk staring out the window).
- More time with your kids. You can actually pick them up from school on time!
- More time with family and friends. If you finish work at 2pm there is plenty of time to do other things during the day.
- Spend less time stuck in traffic and more time avoiding the rush hour horror.
- You can get a midday nap. Recent studies from UC Berkeley, Harvard University, and the University of Athens in Greece show that naps of up to 90 minutes help build and boost brain power, benefit mental health, and reduce the risk of death from heart disease in men.2
- You can have time to study. On-going education is vital for maintaining a healthy and active brain. You don’t want to be a brain-dead zombie now do you?
Benefits for the Economy:
- Reduce the strain on the NHS by improving the quality of life of working professionals, thereby reducing the likelihood of those professionals developing long term physical and mental illnesses.
- Longer trading hours.
- Smoother traffic and transport flow. Rush hour congestion could be reduced by 50%.
- Increase retail trade by 50% between 2pm-5pm (More people will be free to do shopping during these hours).
- Reduce strain on social care services. By increasing the amount of time working professionals are able to spend with their families, the concept of a ‘happy family home’ will be reintroduced to society, thereby reducing the strain on social care services.
If you think this is a great idea sign the petition below!
Sign Petition: https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-change-9am-5pm-to-6am-2pm
Sources:
1 – What is the time your brain is most active (Quora.com)
2 – rd.com