弹性工作制能让员工更加健康?

你会因为每天严格的上下班时间而头痛不已吗?你会因为无法抽空去接孩子放学而心怀愧疚吗?你有没有想过，也许这种严格的工作制度正在慢慢侵蚀你的健康?目前的研究表明，弹性的工作制度才是一种更有利于身心健康的工作方式。欧美国家也都纷纷推广这种制度，旨在提高公民的生活质量。不知道弹性工作制何时才能在我们身边普及呢?

Much time and effort has been dedicated to researching the mental health benefits of flexible work environments, but can the ability to leave work early to watch your son’s soccer game, or arrive at the office a bit later in the morning in order to see to some personal errands, have broader physical health benefits beyond making you feel a bit less frazzled?

According to new research, it seems so. In a review of 10 previous studies examining the health implications of flexible work conditions for more than 16,000 people, researchers found that flexible work schedules—when employees can shift their starting times, for example—were associated with improvements in blood pressure, sleep and overall mental health. Specifically, the review showed that more flexibility in work schedules was associated with improvements in alertness, sleep quality, tiredness, heart rate and other primary health outcomes, as well as benefits to secondary health outcomes, such as perceived social support in the workplace and sense of community. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, in all of the studies included in the review, researchers found no evidence for negative effects of more flexible work schedules.

This preliminary analysis was intended to shed light on the potential health benefits of flexible work options, which are increasingly popular throughout Scandinavia, and have recently gained some ground in the U.K. In the U.S., the phenomenon is a bit slower to catch on—fewer than a third of U.S. employees have flexible work options, according to 2009 estimates from the AARP. Yet, the economic atrophy of recent years may have contributed to growth in workplace flexibility—as companies unable to reward employees with bonuses or raises may turn to other forms of compensation.

Previous research too, of course, has indicated the benefits of flexible work environments toward positive mental health outcomes. And while these latest findings are promising, the researchers stress that more study is vital to understanding the morenuanced dynamics of the relationship between flexible work and improved health outcomes. For example, employees who are most frequently granted workplace leeway are generally higher-ranking, and as such are likely of higher socioeconomic status, which could impact their overall health apart from work scheduling. To truly grasp the benefits of flexible working conditions, the researchers say, additional study analyzing health outcomes among a wider range of workers—from high-ranking executives to hourly employees—is critical to gaining a deeper understanding of the issue, and helping to shape future workplace policy.

人们花了很多时间和精力来研究弹性工作制会给员工的心理健康带来什么好处。但是，如果下午能早点儿下班去看儿子的足球比赛，或者早上为了办点儿私事而晚点儿去上班，这些便利只是让你感到没那么疲惫之吗?除此之外，还能给你的身体健康带来什么好处呢?

一项新的研究显示，弹性工作制的确对身体健康有好处。在综述了早前10个关于弹性工作制对一万六千多人的健康有何影响的研究结果后，研究者发现弹性的工作时间——例如，员工可以调整开始上班的时间——与改善血压、睡眠和整体心理健康有很大联系。具体来说，对研究结果的复查还表明，灵活的工作时间不仅与主要健康结果息息相关，比如机敏性、睡眠质量、疲劳度、心率等等，还与一些次要健康结果相关，如工作场所领悟到的社会支持以及集体感。有一点也许是在意料之中，那就是，在对所有研究结果的复查中，研究者没发现弹性工作时间有任何的负面影响。

这个初步的分析结果旨在证明弹性工作制可能会给健康带来的好处，而这种弹性工作制在斯堪的纳维亚地区越来越盛行，近来在英国也开始普及起来。在美国，这一制度的发展较为缓慢——美国退休人员协会2009年的一项调查显示，美国只有不到三分之一的员工在享受弹性工作时间。然而，近年来的经济衰退也许促进了弹性工作制的盛行，因为没有能力向员工提供分红或者加薪奖励的公司会采取其他形式进行补偿。

当然，早先的研究也指出了灵活的工作环境会对心理健康有积极影响。虽然这些最新的研究结果让人看好，但是研究者强调，要是想了解弹性工作制和良好的健康结果之间更加细微的动态关系，则有必要进行更多的研究。例如，享受更灵活的工作时间的员工一般都身居高位，更有可能享有较高的社会经济地位，这些因素都会影响他们的整体健康情况，所以影响他们健康的因素不仅仅是工作时间安排研究者表明，为了真正了解弹性工作制的好处，对更广泛人群的健康结果进行研究分析至关重要——既包括高级管理人员，也包括小时工——这样才能对弹性工作制与健康的关系有更深刻的了解，从而有助于制定未来的工作制度。