The Ethics of Sleep

Employee A was up most of the night surfing the internet.
Employee B got eight hours of sleep.
Which employee is more likely to shut the door to his office and sleep while he's supposed to be working and why?

 You probably guessed that Employee A was more likely to sleep on the job, unless you thought it was a trick question in which case you guessed Employee B because it seemed counter-intuitive and therefore worth asking.  Actually, Employee A is more likely to sleep on the job. At least that's my guess based on a recent study showing  employees who get less sleep are more likely to behave unethically at work.  Sleeping on the job is after all unethical, so it's a reasonable inference that the sleep deprived Employee A will be more likely to steal a nap than the well rested employee.  Of course it might also be more tempting for Employee A than Employee B.  Steve Nguyen at Workplace Psychology has a good little post on the study.  His take away:

Take-Away: Employees who stay up late working and miss sleep are more likely to distort/misrepresent/bend results and engage in other forms of cheating. As a manager, be sure to balance high expectations of your employees with an understanding that in order for workers to do their best, they need to replenish their physical and psychosocial health, which is the purpose of sleep.

I'll sleep to that.