Almost one in 10 homeworkers confesses that they take a nap during work hours, with the time between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. being the most popular time to fall asleep.
When extrapolated to the country as a whole, this means that approximately 4.3 million people are sleeping unscheduled, costing businesses £500 million a week in wasted wages.
This comes as companies continue to try to force staff to return to the office, with civil servants told they must report to work at least three days a week.
Meanwhile, some companies that allow staff to work from home have gone so far as to monitor their locations to ensure they are not secretly traveling abroad.
The survey, conducted from a representative sample of 2,000 people, found that more than three million Britons have left their jobs due to negative feelings caused by fatigue.
Millions of Britons are taking advantage of working from home to take naps during office hours, a new survey reveals.
It also revealed that younger workers are the most likely to call in sick due to fatigue, with one in five admitting to doing so.
The survey, commissioned by sugar-free energy drink company Reign Storm, suggests that sleepy workers are costing companies huge sums of money each year.
The average Briton is paid £17.40 an hour, so if every worker who admitted to taking a nap did so for just one hour, this would be equivalent to £24 billion a year in lost wages.
Concerns about the negative impacts of working from home have sparked a crackdown from employers: a KPMG survey of 150 bosses found that more than a third now expect their staff to be at their desks at least four days a week .
Just under half (45 percent) plan to track staff attendance with swipe card systems.
Rules are also being tightened in the civil service, with senior Whitehall officials recommitting to a previous rule introduced by the last government requiring civil servants to spend at least 60 per cent of their time in the office.
Following July’s general election, newly appointed Labor ministers were reported to be quietly ignoring the rules in a “less dogmatic” approach to staff.
But Whitehall bosses have now made a new commitment to the 60 per cent target after deciding the guidance should not change.
It was revealed that Cat Little, permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office, wrote to other department heads yesterday to reconfirm the three-day-a-week instruction.
It appears to be a victory for chancellor Rachel Reeves after she clashed with her cabinet colleagues by praising the benefits of staff working together in an office.
Last month, Ms Reeves said she “leads by example” by coming to her workplace at the Treasury and said staff had benefited from “coming together” to work “collaboratively”.
Civil servants will have to spend at least three days a week in the office after senior Whitehall officials recommitted to rules on working from home.
This contrasted with the stance taken by Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who had criticized a “culture of presenteeism” in British workplaces.
He also insisted that a default right to flexible working would increase productivity and criticized the “bizarre” Conservative approach of “declaring war on people working from home”.
The Cabinet Office said civil service bosses had “agreed that a minimum of 60 per cent office attendance for most staff remains the best balance of working”.
“This approach will allow teams and departments to maximize the benefits of hybrid working and get the best out of being together,” the department added.
‘The civil service’s approach is comparable to other large public and private sector employers.
“This reflects the view of civil service leaders that there remain clear benefits to spending time working together face-to-face.”
The Government will also reintroduce the publication of tracking data on Whitehall working patterns, which was suspended before the general election.
Statistics on the use of office space across departments will now be published quarterly in a “more cost effective” approach than the weekly data that was published under the Conservatives.
The 60 per cent rule was issued last November amid a push by the Conservative government to get Whitehall staff back to their office desks following the Covid pandemic.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg waged a long campaign to get civil servants back into their offices when he was a cabinet minister.
The Government has also reintroduced the publication of Whitehall office occupancy tracking data, which was paused before the general election.
This included leaving notes on empty desks in all departments saying, “I’m sorry you weren’t around when I visited you.” I hope to see you in the office very soon.
The Cabinet Office added: ‘Guidelines on office attendance will remain in place, with most civil servants expected to spend at least 60 per cent of their time in a government building or on official business, such as visiting the interested parties.
“Heads of departments across Government have agreed that the civil service is better able to deliver for the people it serves if it takes a consistent approach to working in the office.”
