Dive Brief:
- One interesting statistic about the Super Bowl: U.S. employers may lose over $820M in lost productivity the week before the big game, according to a report at Lexology.
- Additionally, an estimated 1.5 million Americans call in sick the day after the Super Bowl, costing further (potentially millions more) productivity dollars. The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated estimates even higher: 6 million may call in sick and 7.5 million may come in late, with a total of 10.5 million workers taking the day off ahead of time.
- The Lexology report also offers ways to make sure any Super Bowl pools in your office don’t create any legal risks. Law officials “typically have more pressing concerns” than tracking Super Bowl pools, Lexology notes, though if your workplace has a blanket policy against gambling, make sure the boundaries are clear to employees.
Dive Insight:
The $820M number is based on an assumption that an average employee spends “10 minutes a workday” talking, planning and participating in activities surrounding the game before it happens. Employers can likely “count on losing another $156M” after the game, too, from employees discussing the event – but Lexology also suggests that allowing such post-game camaraderie certainly isn’t bad for workplace morale.
As far as Super Bowl Monday sick days, employers may be able to limit problems with unscheduled absences by encouraging employees to put in a request for time off in advance so employers at least know who may not be around.
Alas, concerning productivity drain, the worst (best?) is yet to come. The Super Bowl comes in second only to the NCAA basketball tournament commonly known as “March Madness” – which is just around the corner.
