Ever wish your employer allowed daytime naps?

Here’s some good ammunition to show the boss: a new study has found that a lack of sleep among Canada’s working population is costing the economy up to $21.4 billion (U.S.) a year — which is 1.35 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

According to non-profit research group RAND Europe, sleep deprivation leads to a higher mortality risk and lower productivity levels in the workforce, putting a significant damper on a country’s economy.

For instance, the report found that a person who sleeps on average less than six hours a night has a 13 per cent higher mortality risk than someone sleeping between seven and nine hours, while those sleeping between six and seven hours a day have a 7 per cent higher mortality risk.

(A healthy daily sleep range is described in the study as sleeping between seven and nine hours per night.)

Of the five countries surveyed, researchers found Canada fared best on the sleep front, losing about 80,000 working days a year due to sleep deprivation among its working population.

Meanwhile the U.S. was found to suffer the biggest financial losses — up to $411 billion, which is 2.28 per cent of its GDP) — and most working days lost (1.2 million) due to sleep deprivation. (All figures in the study are in U.S. dollars).

The report says productivity losses at work occur through a combination of absenteeism and something referred to as “presenteeism”, in which employees are on the job but working at a suboptimal level.

“Our study shows that the effects from a lack of sleep are massive,” says Marco Hafner, a research leader at U.K.-based RAND Europe and the report’s main author.

“Sleep deprivation not only influences an individual’s health and well-being but has a significant impact on a nation’s economy, with lower productivity levels and a higher mortality risk among workers,” he said in a release early Wednesday.

The study “Why Sleep Matters — The Economic Costs of Insufficient Sleep” is considered the first of its kind to quantify the economic losses due to lack of sleep among workers in five different countries, including the U.S, the U.K., Canada, Germany and Japan.

The poor results in the U.S. were closely followed by Japan, with a cost of $138 billion to its economy, representing 2.92 per cent of its GDP, and an estimated 600,000 working days lost from lack of slumber.

It also found Germany loses up to $60 billion, or 1.56 per cent of its GDP, and just over 200,000 working days from sleep issues while the U.K. loses an estimated $50 billion, which is 1.86 per cent of its GDP, and just over 200,000 working days.

“Improving individual sleep habits and duration has huge implications, with our research showing that simple changes can make a big difference,” says Hafner.

“For example, if those who sleep under six hours a night increase their sleep to between six and seven hours a night, this could add $12 billion to the Canadian economy,” he notes.

The research group says it used large employer-employee databases along with data on sleep duration from the five countries to quantify predicted economic effects from a lack of sleep among workforces.

How workers can get better sleep

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The report recommends individuals set consistent wake-up times, limit the use of electronic items before bedtime and get some physical exercise during the day.

Employers too should formally recognize the importance of sleep and the employer’s role in its promotion, the report says, by building brighter workspaces with areas for daytime naps, combating workplace psychosocial risks and discouraging the extended use of electronic devices after working hours.

Public authorities meanwhile should encourage employers to pay attention to sleep issues and also consider introducing later school starting times.