This CEO pays his employees to sleep more

An American CEO has begun paying his employees to sleep at least seven hours a night, in a bid to increase their productivity.

Aetna Chairman, CEO and President Mark Bertolini

Aetna Chairman, CEO and President Mark Bertolini Source: YouTube

Mark Bertolini is the CEO of Aetna, a US health insurance company, and he uses Fitbit fitness trackers to monitor the sleep of employees who choose to be a part of the sleep payment program.

"If they can prove they get 20 nights of sleep for seven hours or more in a row, we will give them $25 [$33 AUD] a night, up to $500 [$661AUD] a year," he told CNBC.

The seven hours of sleep do not need to be continuous and can include naps.

Mr Bertolini said he believes there is a link between sleep and employee productivity, claiming his employees improved their productivity by 69 minutes extra each month as a result of the company paying them to sleep more.

"If we can make business fundamentals better by investing in our people, then that's what's going to show up in our revenue," he said.

The company is also providing further incentives to employees who are able to maintain other healthy activities such as exercising regularly.



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Published 12 April 2016 11:52am


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