Just make it a national holiday already
It’s highly likely that millions of Americans missed some work time the Monday immediately following the Super Bowl this year, according to a report.
Overall, 17% of U.S. employees – equivalent to 26.6 million workers – were likely to miss at least some work on Super Bowl Monday, reported The Workforce Institute at UKG on Feb. 7.
That number included a combined record-breaking 18.8 million employees who planned not to go to work, and 7.8 million who planned to start work late, found the survey of 1,270 adult workers conducted Jan. 26 to 30, 2023.
How did they do it? Overall, an estimated 4.7 million people planned to ghost their employer that Monday, up by nearly two million from 2021 data. About 3.1 million planned to call in sick even if they were not actually sick, and about 9.4 million decided at the last minute what to do.
Many employees are thirsty for a "Paid Celebration Recovery Leave" otherwise known as a "Hangover Leave,” according to a previous report.
‘Model behavior’
And it’s not just individual contributors who will be out: Nearly a quarter (23%) of U.S. employees who manage other people planned to miss work or go in late on Super Bowl Monday this year, according to The Workforce Institute at UKG. In advance of missing work (either part of the day or the whole day) that Monday, just 6% of people managers planned to notify their direct reports or teams.
Another 5% of people managers didn’t have any intention to reveal their absence plans to their managers as they planned to “ghost” work completely that day, which is even more than individual contributors.
“Middle managers need to model the behaviors that they want to see from employees and treat their people the way they would want to be treated — that is to say, with authenticity and understanding,” said Dr. Jarik Conrad, executive director of The Workforce Institute at UKG.
When you empower your managers to have a stake in setting the tone for their organization — when you train them to model trust and accountability, and to demonstrate workplace values indicative of a great place to work — then that ripple will uplift your entire organization.”
Workers just couldn’t focus on work that day: 44% of Kansas City Chiefs fans and 43% of Philadelphia Eagles fans surveyed said they’ll be distracted from work by Super Bowl postgame highlights and conversations with coworkers.
Overall, 42% of U.S. employees believe the day after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday.
Last December, a report from Robert Half Canada noted that 25% of employees admitted to online shopping before the holidays.
Read more: Federal holidays in the USA
Managing hangover
Super Bowl comes around each year, and it’s best for employers to be prepared for the future. Here are some tips that employers can share with their workers, details by Michael Hollan, associate editor for lifestyle, and Phillip Nieto, SEO writer, for Fox News Digital:
- Drink water or liquids.
- Fill up your stomach.
- Take your vitamins.
- Allow your body time to process the alcohol.
- Get plenty of sleep.
