The study, led by Professor Joseph G. Grzywacz, Ph.D., of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, has found that workplace flexibility, including telecommuting and job shares, is good for employees' health.

On Tuesday, letting out the findings of the study, the research revealed that flexibility at workplaces not only helps boosting employees' morale, but also helps developing healthier lifestyle habits in them.

The research affirmed that if people are provided workplace flexibility, they are more likely to make healthier lifestyle choices, to exercise more and to sleep better. The study reinforces the idea that workplace flexibility is important to workplace health.

In an interview, Professor Grzywacz said, "People who believe they have flexibility in their work lives have healthier lifestyles. Individuals who perceive an increase in their flexibility are more likely to start some positive lifestyle behaviours.”

The Professor said, "Perhaps it gives people the time to fit in healthier lifestyle into their everyday regimen or maybe it just enables people to better manage their time."

He added, "This study is important because it reinforces the idea that workplace flexibility is important to workplace health."

According to Grzywacz, the goal of the study is to improve 'understanding of the potential effect of workplace flexibility on worker lifestyle habits'. The main aim behind the flexibility movement was to help people, especially women, combine work and family, evidence suggests this is clearly not only a women's issue.

The researchers analyzed the data that came from Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) completed by employees of a large multinational pharmaceutical company. The researchers studied Health Risk Appraisals from employees in jobs ranging from warehouse and production workers to executives at a large multinational pharmaceutical company.

The firm used for the study is consistently recognized by Working Mother magazine as among the most family-friendly employers in the United States.

Grzywacz said, "These weren't all office workers - that's an important point. This isn't just about high-level office workers - these people perform a wide variety of tasks within the company,"

The data was analysed to determine if lifestyle behaviours differ between employees with different levels of perceived flexibility and to identify if changes in flexibility over a one-year time period predicted changes in health behaviour.

The study emphasized on frequency of physical activity, engagement in stress management programs, and participation in health education activities, healthful sleep habits, and self-appraised overall lifestyle.

Grzywacz told that the research shows public health departments and organizations that they could get something out of giving their employees more flexibility, but, he added that further research was needed to assess the long-term benefits.

Grzywacz said, "Overall, the results showed that nearly all the health behaviours examined in this study were associated with perceived flexibility."

"Although further research is needed, these results suggest that flexibility programs that are situated within a broader organizational commitment to employee health may be useful for promoting positive lifestyle habits," he added.

The study, titled "The Effects of Workplace Flexibility on Health Behaviours: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis," has been published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.