Aetna Employees Get Bonuses for Being Well-Rested

Impact

At the health insurance provider Aetna, you can now sleep your way to the top — kind of.

Aetna employees can earn as much as $300 a year just by getting at least seven hours of sleep a night. 

In an interview with the Huffington Post, Aetna spokesman TJ Crawford said that for every 20 days employees sleep the minimum amount, they'll bring home $25. To earn the full $300, they'll need to rack up 240 well-rested nights. To keep track, employees can synch up their FitBits or manually enter the data on the company's wellness platform.

"Having a well-rested and more present workforce is a win for everyone — our employees, our members and our shareholders," Crawford told the site.

Read more: Here's Why You Should Sleep Naked, According to Science

A 2015 Employee Benefits Report found that 70% of companies in the United States offer some kind of wellness program for their employees. And according to Forbes, RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research institute, found that for every $1 invested in workers' wellness, companies made a $1.50 return. 

Beyond making you more productive in the workplace, regularly getting a full night's sleep helps ward off heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. And a lack of rest has been linked to a lowered libido in women and erectile dysfunction in men. 

"You can get things done quicker if people are present and prepared," said Crawford. "You can't be prepared if you're half-asleep."