LTC’s latest Wellbeing at Work research, delivered with KAM, shows that sleep and fatigue are now the biggest factors preventing people in the pub, bar and brewing sector from working at full capacity. The findings highlight a clear link between rest, recovery, workplace pressure and performance, making sleep not just a personal wellbeing issue, but a practical workplace priority.
The research found that 29% of employees reported sleep challenges in the last 12 months, making sleep the most common personal challenge identified by workers. One in four employees said sleep disruption affects their ability to function effectively at work, while 48% said work-related stress has affected their sleep in the last three months.
These findings have informed LTC’s new guide, Supporting Better Sleep for Hospitality Teams, created to help managers understand how sleep affects performance, spot signs of fatigue, and make practical changes that support better recovery between shifts.
Why sleep matters in hospitality
Hospitality is a people-focused, fast-moving industry. Every shift relies on concentration, quick decision-making, communication and the ability to stay calm under pressure.
When teams are well rested, service can feel smoother, communication is clearer and problems are handled more confidently. When recovery is poor, the signs may be more subtle: slower thinking, missed details, shorter patience, inconsistent service or team members simply not seeming like themselves.
The LTC sleep guide explains that sleep is not just about the number of hours someone gets. It is also about quality, timing and consistency of rest. In hospitality, that can be affected by late finishes, early starts, split shifts, changing rotas, long weeks and busy shifts that make it harder to switch off afterwards.
The sleep-pressure cycle
Poor sleep and workplace pressure can quickly become a cycle.
A busy or stressful shift can leave the body alert long after work has ended. That can make it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep. Poor sleep can then reduce resilience, focus and emotional regulation the next day, making pressure feel harder to manage.
LTC’s research found that 2 in 3 employees feel stressed or overwhelmed at work regularly or occasionally, while the main causes of workplace pressure include high workload and understaffing, difficult or intoxicated customers, long and irregular working hours, physical fatigue, low pay and lack of financial security.
The sleep guide describes this as a cycle where stress, increased cortisol and adrenaline, sleep problems, sleep deprivation and fatigue can reinforce each other if recovery is not supported.
A business issue as well as a wellbeing issue
The impact of poor wellbeing is not limited to how people feel. LTC’s research shows that employees who regularly feel stressed or overwhelmed are less likely to feel their working conditions allow them to perform at their best, less likely to have the energy and focus to do their job well, and more likely to experience presenteeism, being at work but not fully effective.
The research also highlights the scale of lost productivity. Poor employee wellbeing is linked to an estimated 46 days lost per employee per year through absenteeism and presenteeism combined.
For employers, this makes sleep and recovery a practical issue linked to customer service, retention, morale and performance.
What managers can do
Managers cannot control how much someone sleeps. But they can influence the working conditions, conversations and support routes that affect recovery.
The LTC sleep guide encourages managers to look at areas such as rota patterns, late-to-early shifts, workload, breaks, out-of-hours contact and whether support routes are easy to find before someone reaches crisis point.
Practical steps include:
- reducing repeated late-finish to early-start patterns where possible
- communicating rota changes earlier
- protecting breaks during busy periods
- avoiding non-urgent messages outside working hours
- making rest between shifts a visible part of performing well
- encouraging early conversations about fatigue, pressure and recovery
- making support options clear, simple and regularly visible
The guide also suggests simple conversation starters for managers, such as: “How are you sleeping?”, “Are you getting enough time to recover between shifts?” and “Is anything at work making it harder to switch off?”
Practical steps for better sleep
For individuals, the sleep guide focuses on small, realistic actions that can support better rest, particularly when working patterns are irregular.
These include creating a short wind-down routine after shifts, being mindful of caffeine timing, reducing screen use before sleep where possible, keeping the sleep space dark, quiet and cool, and protecting recovery time between shifts.
The guide is clear that the aim is not perfection. It is about reducing friction around sleep and helping people make small changes that are repeatable.
Support should be easy to find before crisis point
LTC’s research shows that support is available in many workplaces, but it is not always visible or consistently used. While 58% of employees say mental health or stress management support is available, only 20% are very satisfied with the support provided. The research also found that 36% say their employer offers an Employee Assistance Programme, while 29% are not sure whether their employer offers one.
The sleep guide reinforces that support messages need to be simple, repeated often and backed up by day-to-day expectations that protect recovery.
For the licensed hospitality community, LTC offers practical advice, financial assistance and wellbeing support tailored to the realities of the sector. Support is available through LTC’s free 24/7 helpline and wider wellbeing resources.
Helping hospitality teams recover, perform and thrive
The findings are clear: sleep is not a side issue. It is one of the most important indicators of how well hospitality teams are coping, recovering and performing.
By taking sleep and fatigue seriously, employers and managers can help create healthier working environments where people are better supported to rest, recover and do their best work.
LTC’s Supporting Better Sleep for Hospitality Teams guide offers practical guidance to help managers and teams understand fatigue, protect recovery and support better wellbeing across the licensed hospitality sector.
Download your copy of the LTC Sleep Guide here.
Download your copy of the Wellbeing at Work Research here.
