Poor sleep is a modifiable risk factor that worsens mental health and chronic disease and plan sponsors aren't giving it enough attention, consultants say
Poor sleep is rarely treated as a standalone workplace risk. Instead, it shows up as a secondary factor - worsening mental health claims, complicating disability cases and eroding the cognitive sharpness that safety-sensitive jobs demand.
Moreover, recent Sun Life figures suggest almost half of working Canadian adults aren’t getting seven to eight hours of sleep. For plan sponsors, experts underscore the question is whether current benefits and workplace supports are catching the problem early enough.
“Should sleep come on the table as a topic more often when we have those discussions? Probably. We don’t always name sleep issues when talking about wellness programs and disabilities,” said Frederick Henes, advisor for group insurance plans at WTW. “I don't know that plan sponsors are naming sleep issues very often when we have those discussions, but it's a side effect of everything that we do with many of our clients.”
"Health does not exist in a silo," said Karma Stanley, clinical nurse manager at GreenShield. "We can't separate sleep from other wellness concerns because sleep is really connected to nearly every part of a person's health and functioning,” said Stanley, adding that interconnection is what makes sleep a modifiable risk factor worth targeting. After all, it influences mood, appetite, pain, blood pressure and blood sugar.
Poor sleep is symptomatic to something larger
Leigh-Ann Ing, senior director and Canadian leader of well-being, equity and disability management at WTW, reinforced that point, emphasizing how sleep issues are almost always symptomatic of something larger - whether that means caregiving demands, chronic conditions like diabetes or hormonal shifts tied to menopause and perimenopause. Sleep apnea alone carries a cluster of comorbidities including cardiovascular disease, obesity and metabolic syndrome.
“When we talk about sleep, or the lack thereof, yes, it has a productivity impact, but more importantly, we should be looking at what’s the cause? We should be supporting individuals in terms of how to ensure they have access to appropriate medical care and virtual health solutions so that employees can feel supported if there is a lack of care from a primary care physician or a medical doctor or family medical doctor,” said Ing.
Flexible scheduling policies also matter, she added, particularly for employees managing medical or caregiving needs. Ing stressed that disability itself needs to be examined from every angle, not limited to visible or physical conditions.
Poor sleep isn’t being treated as a standalone disability issue, and she doesn’t think it should be. The more productive conversation, she argued, is about what is causing the sleep loss in the first place.
She pointed to a Sun Life study that identified financial concerns as the leading driver, followed by workplace stressors. That means the right supports may look less like clinical sleep interventions and more like financial counselling, debt education or policies that give employees the agency to disconnect after hours, she said.
Untreated sleep disorders bleed into workplace
According to Stanley, “sleep apnea is a perfect example of why we can't separate sleep from chronic disease management. Someone who has untreated sleep apnea may experience that repeated sleep disruption throughout the night that then shows up as daytime fatigue, morning headaches, concentration problems, irritability, low energy, that sleepiness throughout the day. Of course, that increases risk,” she said, adding sleep-deprived employees struggle to manage chronic health conditions, stick to treatment plans, prepare healthy meals, regulate stress and engage socially.
From a customer service standpoint, poor sleep erodes empathy and increases irritability, which bleeds into long-term relationships and client-facing interactions. She noted that the leading drivers of workplace disability absence - mental health and musculoskeletal disorders - are the very conditions that poor sleep worsens.
"Some people may not even understand the important role that sleep plays in improving mental health until you have that integrated approach to care," Stanley said, adding that untreated sleep apnea also raises the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and weight-related health concerns, compounding into additional chronic disease that increases absenteeism and drives costs.
The productivity impact cuts across every type of role, Ing emphasized. Employees dealing with sleep apnea or insomnia who hold decision-making positions may lack the cognitive sharpness to perform at the level their jobs require. But the issue goes beyond presenteeism, she argued. When an employee is visibly and repeatedly exhausted, there is an onus on employers and people leaders to lean in rather than look past it, asking what supports or mechanisms can help that person show up and function, regardless of whether the role is safety-sensitive or desk-based.
Where coverage plays a role in treating poor sleep
As for coverage, Henes noted that CPAP devices are already covered by most group plans, but carriers typically require a moderate-to-severe sleep apnea diagnosis before approving claims. He estimated that six to seven per cent of the Canadian adult population has been diagnosed with sleep apnea, while the actual prevalence could sit between 20 and 30 per cent.
Stanley outlined a range of levers available to plan sponsors, pointing to assessment and treatment for sleep disorders, clinically indicated devices and therapies, internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, certified sleep coaches and chronic disease management programs that build sleep into their core framework rather than treating it as a separate concern.
According to Stanley, health coaching should tackle sleep alongside movement, stress and medication adherence, with certified sleep coaches available for more specialized guidance on sleep hygiene, circadian rhythm strategies and fatigue management.
Pharmacist consultations are equally important, she said, helping employees review medications, side effects, dosing schedules and potential alternatives with their provider while nurse-led assessments tie it all together by helping employees see the connection between sleep and the conditions that brought them through the door in the first place.
Implementing workplace accommodations for sleep
Still, Stanley argued that workplace design matters too. Access to natural daylight, appropriate lighting and dedicated wellness or recovery spaces all support alertness as well as protected breaks, predictable scheduling, fatigue management training and shift work structures designed with sleep in mind.
“A wellness room can be one of those ways for people. They don’t necessarily need to nap in that wellness room but have an opportunity to decompress and rest a little bit throughout the day as one component of the strategy,” she said.
While there is still significant stigma around napping at work, employers that go down that path need to think through safety, security, hygiene and intended use, Ing emphasized, adding that physical spaces are only one piece. Sleep hygiene programs also matter but they don’t carry significant weight alone.
"If someone is suffering from severe depression, one of their symptoms of insomnia, a sleep hygiene program is not going to solve their issues," Ing said, emphasizing the need for warm handoffs and clear linkages to other supports like mental health services, financial counselling, chronic disease management. Because sleep disruption is rarely the root cause.
"It's ensuring that holistic wraparound when it comes to supporting and ensuring that the employee knows where to go and how to access supports, regardless of how they enter any one program," she said.
Beyond workplace devices, Henes said plan sponsors need to think past standalone sleep apps and invest in broader wellness supports, though he acknowledged that tying those investments to hard productivity gains is difficult.
"It's really hard to pinpoint what actions triggered the increase in productivity," he said. "Plan sponsors need to make sure that they lift those barriers where it makes sense while making sure their employees remain sustainable.”
Ing acknowledged it will take a forward-thinking employer to run internal awareness campaigns that connect rest and recovery to productivity — and to back those campaigns with real support.
“We need to look at the conversation not from a disability standpoint, but from a preventative standpoint," she added.
