Falling asleep in the workplace is a common problem according to new research issued by the UK's largest employment law firm — 63 percent of UK workers admit they have either fallen asleep or felt extremely sleepy in the workplace. Also, 73 percent of employees believe that if their employer would allow them to nap at work, they would do so.

Deb Gibbons, head of diversity at Peninsula employment law firm, suggested that power naps are a good way to relieve tiredness in the short term. “While this may seem like a crazy idea, it could increase productivity and possibly prevent an accident in the workplace.”

“Road-based employees should not even consider driving if they feel tired. Regular breaks are encouraged for everyone who drives whether they are tired or not,” she added.

According to Gibbons, research indicates that pressures of work have a detrimental impact on how many hours of sleep people need. “In fact, our research shows that employees need 7 hours, 15 minutes sleep a day; however in reality it seems employees may not be getting this. How much productivity is lost because of this? What is the real cost to the employer? Understandably, it is going to be colossal. It’s a silent loss of productivity,” she concluded.