As a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, mental health difficulties have increased among employees as they struggle to adjust to new habits and work practices. Here’s how flexible working hours and work-from-home choices might benefit working professionals’ mental health. As the work environment evolves, the UAE has instituted a four-and-a-half-day work week, effective on January 1. It has become the world’s first country to adopt an employee-friendly culture. The decision is made at a time when managing employees’ mental health has emerged as one of the most onerous challenges for businesses in a pandemic-ravaged world. Employees’ mental health problems have worsened as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, as they struggle to adjust to new routines and work procedures.
Here’s how flexible working hours and work-from-home choices may benefit working professionals’ mental health by allowing them to spend more time with their families. A person who works a full-time shift rarely has time to spend with his or her family. And, with fewer working hours, one would have more time to spend with their family, instilling a sense of belonging and togetherness, which appears to be a beneficial shift. This will also assist to lessen stress levels. Because when you know you have plenty of time and two and a half days to yourself, you may utilize that time to de-stress and relax. Several studies have found that increased stress levels reduce productivity. With lower stress levels, one may be more receptive to new experiences and you will be more productive since when given a particular deadline, one may be expected to be more focused on their job, ensuring more efficient completion of the assignment. Haven’t we all worked a bit more in the lead-up to our weekends to ensure they go off without a hitch?
This will help to restore the work-life balance. The UAE government announced the new work schedule, stating that “Longer weekends to promote productivity and better work-life balance; beginning January 1st, 2022.” It now appears to be a likely outcome. It will free up the employee’s time for invention and creativity. When one is comfortable and stress-free, one is more receptive to the invention, which leads to inventive methods to finish chores and projects. Office workers sometimes grumble about their boring schedules as a result of the office’s strict policies. Professionals will be able to find new methods to turn things around with flexible hours and remote working choices.
Long working hours are a common occurrence in most organizations and businesses, where the amount of time spent on work, including major activities of the job, associated jobs, commuting, and travel, is excessive and directly or indirectly harmful to workers’ health. Long working hours have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, chronic fatigue, stress, depression, anxiety, sleep quality, all-cause mortality, alcohol use and smoking, and self-perceived health, mental health status, hypertension, and health behaviors in epidemiological studies. Other researchers have identified similar outcomes for extended working hours, such as myocardial infarction, poor physical health and injuries, alcohol intake, smoking, physical inactivity, and depression.
A meta-analysis synthesized 243 records from 46 publications published between 1998 and 2018 to investigate the influence of long working hours on worker occupational health. Occupational health was grouped into five conditions: physiological health, mental health, health behaviors, associated health, and no defined health. For each condition, the odds ratios and publication bias corrections were calculated. Employees who worked long hours were more likely to suffer from a variety of occupational health problems, according to the findings. The condition ‘related health’ had the greatest odds ratio, with health indicators including short sleep duration, weariness, sleep disruption, sleep issue, and injury. Workers who worked long hours were more likely to have occupational health problems, and among the health measures in the linked health condition, short sleep duration had the highest connection with long working hours. The findings highlight the negative consequences of long work hours on occupational health.
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