Only 21 percent of U.S. companies with extended-hours operations reported that they provided human resource coverage to evening, night and weekend shifts, according to the new Shiftwork Practices Survey by Circadian Technologies, Inc.

With human resource managers in most companies absent, uncovering the hidden costs of extended-hours operations and developing effective programs to reduce these costs is impeded, according to Acacia Aguirre, M.D., Ph.D., Circadian medical director and a principal author of Human Resources Management in the Extended Hours Workplace. “Since human resource managers are not usually on duty during the evening, nighttime or weekend shifts, impacting these excess costs is challenging,” said Aguirre.