Professional life
By Juliette Bergé |
Published on 11/28/2023
And the best is not necessarily to work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day!
Being able to leave earlier or start later depending on personal constraints? This is the wish of many employees who now place their life balance at the heart of their professional aspirations. An American scientific study proves them right: time flexibility would be good for the heart!
Benefiting from flexible hours would make you 10 years younger
Start and end your working day as you wish? It would be good for your health according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers from Harvard University and Penn State have proven that schedules more suited to a good work/life balance reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
To carry out their study, they selected two types of workers: employees of an IT company and a healthcare company which employed nearly 900 people, mainly women with fairly low salaries. All these employees were entitled to a health check before the test in order to assess their cardiovascular risks.
They were then separated into two groups: one continuing to operate with fixed hours and the other working with more flexible hours. And, it is in this last group that employees saw a significant reduction in their cardiovascular risks, equivalent to being 5 to 10 years younger!
These more flexible schedules reduce the effects of stress by favoring personal activities that are often more fulfilling, or also leaving time for more active sporting activities.
Flexible hours reduce health risks without impacting productivity
« Study illustrates how working conditions are important social determinants of health said co-lead author Lisa Berkman, the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School and director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. “ When stressful working conditions and work-family conflict were alleviated, we saw a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease among the most vulnerable employees, without any negative impact on their productivity ».
This scientific work will perhaps encourage certain employers to introduce measures to protect the personal life of each employee. This flexibility can involve very concrete measures such as teleworking, extended arrival or end times for all employees (e.g. between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.) or, more rarely, management by objectives for the day or week which leaves employees free to choose their schedules.
Photo credits: Drazen/stock.adobe.com
2023-11-29 16:11:08
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