A recent article in the New York Times discussed the findings of a study by the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how more flexibility in the workplace impacts the stress of work-life balance. Flexibility at work is an important topic for many cancer patients and survivors who need more flexible work options during treatment or after to manage ongoing side effects.

The study was published in The American Sociological Review and found that when employees were given more control over when and where they worked, they nearly doubled the amount of time that they worked from home (from an average of 10.2 hours to 19.6 hours). These employees reported that they were less stressed and felt happier than the other group of employees that were not given this flexibility in their schedules. Even though the results support that more flexibility in the workplace is beneficial for employees, and particularity useful for cancer patients and survivors, it is still hard to implement in many workplaces due to the widespread belief that logging longer hours in the office is a good thing.

For the full article, click here.