Coffee, bathroom and even smoke breaks have long helped employees battle through exhausting work days.
But one boss has taken timeouts a step further in a bid to relieve ‘stress’ and ‘agitation’ among her workers.
Erika Lust, the Barcelona-based owner of an adult entertainment company, offers her employees daily half an hour breaks for ‘self pleasure’.
The unconventional initiative was made a ‘permanent policy’ in 2022 after a trial run to test if it relieved Covid lockdown stress.
The bizarre masturbation scheme proved so successful that employees even admitted they felt ‘less aggression’ and were ‘more productive’.
Studies have also long suggested that masturbation and intimacy are linked to a string of health benefits including reducing blood pressure — and avoiding it may prove harmful.
During a tour of the office, Ms Lust told The News Movement: ‘They get masturbation breaks. In case you need one, you’re always invited to do it. It gets rid of anxiety.’
After launching the trial scheme in 2021, the Swede also said: ‘With the pandemic and the huge shift in how we live our lives, I began to notice that my employees had become somewhat agitated and were performing with less energy than before.
Erika Lust (pictured), the Barcelona-based owner of an adult entertainment company, offers her employees daily half an hour masturbation breaks
‘So, knowing that there’s only one thing that will make everyone feel good, I set up a private masturbation station for them to enjoy.
‘I value my employees and I know that when they feel good, we do good work.’
There is ‘nothing more harmful to a successful work environment than stress’, she added.
‘I set up a private room in the office which we call “the masturbation station” to provide them with a safe, comfortable space for their masturbation break.’
‘But the masturbation break wasn’t only about trying to help my employees feel better in these trying times.
‘I also wanted to do something to normalise masturbation on a broader scale.
‘Sexual wellbeing is deeply intertwined with your overall mental health and physical health and should be treated with the same respect and resources.’
Her comments come amid concern about a global sex crisis — or rather, lack of sex crisis.
One recent survey revealed more than a quarter (27 per cent) of Britons are now having less sex than they used to, with one in six admitting they haven’t got frisky the entire year.
According to a Royal College of Occupational Therapists poll of 2,000 adults last year, men and women typically romp 46 times a year — once every eight days.
But some have far less frequent amorous activity, with a tenth reported having sex less than once a year.
Sex and intimacy have been linked to several health benefits, including improving the condition of your heart, reducing stress and even boosting mental health.
Both men and women who are sexually inactive for very long periods of time can experience genital shrinking, research suggests.
Called penile atrophy in men and vaginal or clitoral atrophy in women, this rare condition occurs when the tissue becomes less elastic through lack of use.
Experts have also previously told MailOnline this loss of elasticity could cause genitalia to shrink by one or two centimetres and lose sensitivity over a period of about five years.
Sex, and intimacy more generally, has been linked to a string of health benefits, including improving the condition of your heart, reducing stress and even boosting mental health
Another risk, this time for men specifically, is that avoiding ejaculation could increase the risk of prostate cancer.
One Harvard University study found men who ejaculate at least 21 times a month slashed their risk of prostate cancer by a third compared to those who orgasmed less than once a week.
This protection was true regardless of if the ejaculation was achieved via sexual intercourse or masturbation.
Researchers don’t know exactly why frequent ejaculating helps protect against prostate cancer, though a number of mechanisms, fromcombatting damaging inflammation or clearing out cancer-causing substances, have been suggested.
But experts have said that considering it ‘will do no harm’, frequent ejaculation ‘should form part of a man’s healthy lifestyle’.
For women, orgasms that come with sex and/or masturbation can help support the pelvic floor, a group of muscles in the lower abdomen near the groin surrounding the bladder, bowel and the uterus.
This can help combat leakage and incontinence —an issue that affects about one in three women at some point in their lives.
While some people who take part in celibacy challenges like ‘No Nut November’ report increased focus and mental clarity, experts say there isn’t much evidence this is down to abstinence.
Instead, they say it’s more likely to be a basic case of improved self-confidence from people having proven to themselves they can set a goal and achieve it rather than a unique quality from avoiding sexual pleasure.
