Nearly one in ten remote workers admit to napping during work hours, with the hour between 3pm and 4pm being the most popular time to fall asleep.
When extrapolated to the country as a whole, it means that an estimated 4.3 million people are sleeping on the clock, costing companies half a billion pounds a week in wage wasted.
It comes as companies continue to try to force their staff back into the office – with civil servants told to report to work at least three days a week.
Meanwhile, some companies that admit staff to WFH have gone so far as to monitor their locations to ensure they don’t secretly move abroad.
The poll, conducted among a representative sample of 2,000 people, found that more than three million Brits have quit their jobs due to negative feelings caused by fatigue.
Millions of Brits are taking advantage of working from home to nap during office hours, a new survey has found
The research also found that younger workers are most likely to call in sick due to fatigue, with one in five admitting to doing so.
The research, commissioned by sugar-free energy drink company Reign Storm, shows that sleepy employees cost companies huge amounts of money every year.
The average Briton is paid £17.40 an hour, so if every worker who admitted to napping did so for just one hour, this would amount to £24 billion a year in wage losses.
Concerns about the negative impact of WFH have led to a crackdown by employers. A survey of 150 bosses by KPMG shows that more than a third now expect their staff to be at their desk at least four days a week.
Just under half (45 percent) plan to track staff attendance with card reader systems.
Rules are also being tightened within the civil service, with senior Whitehall officials once again adhering to a previous rule introduced by the last government that requires civil servants to spend at least 60 percent of their time in the office.
After the July general election, it was reported that newly appointed Labor ministers were quietly ignoring the rules in a ‘less dogmatic’ approach to staffing.
But Whitehall leaders have now made a new commitment to the 60 per cent target after deciding the guidelines should not change.
Cabinet Office permanent secretary Cat Little is said to have written to other department heads yesterday to reconfirm the three-day-a-week instruction.
It appears to be a victory for Chancellor Rachel Reeves after she brought herself into conflict with Cabinet colleagues by touting the benefits of staff working together in the office.
Ms Reeves said last month she was “leading by example” by coming to her workplace at the Treasury and said staff benefited from “coming together” to “work together”.
Civil servants will have to spend at least three days a week in the office after senior Whitehall officials recommitted to rules on working from home
This contrasted with the position of Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who had criticized a ‘culture of presenteeism’ in the British workplace.
He also stressed that a standard right to flexible working would boost productivity and hit out at the ‘bizarre’ Tory approach of ‘declaring war on people working from home’.
The Cabinet Office said civil service bosses ‘agreed that a minimum office attendance of 60 per cent is still the best working balance for most staff’.
“The approach will enable teams and departments to maximize the benefits of hybrid working and get the most out of being together,” the department added.
‘The official approach is comparable to that of other large employers in the private and public sectors.
‘This reflects the view of civil service leaders that there remain clear benefits to spending time on face-to-face collaboration.’
The government will also reintroduce the publication of monitoring data on working patterns in Whitehall, which was suspended ahead of the general election.
Statistics on the use of office space between departments will now be published quarterly in a ‘more cost-effective’ way than the weekly data published under the Tories.
The 60 per cent rule was issued last November, amid a bid by the Tory government to get Whitehall staff back to their desks after the Covid pandemic.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg waged a long campaign to get civil servants back into their offices when he was a minister.
The government has also reintroduced the publication of monitoring data on Whitehall office occupancy, which was halted ahead of the general election.
This included leaving notes on empty desks in various departments that read: ‘Sorry you were away when I visited. I look forward to seeing you in the office soon.’
The Cabinet Office added: ‘Guidelines on office attendance remain in place, with most civil servants expected to spend at least 60 per cent of their time in a government building or on official business such as visiting stakeholders.
‘The heads of departments across government agree that the civil service can best deliver for the people it serves by taking a consistent approach to working in the office.’