LOWELL, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The highly anticipated Super Bowl Fever Survey, commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated and conducted online by The Harris Poll in January 2020 among 1,148 employed U.S. adults ages 18 and older, estimates that 17.5 million1 employed U.S. adults may miss work the day after Super Bowl LIV – making Monday, Feb. 3, the largest-ever anticipated day of Super Bowl-related absenteeism since The Workforce Institute at Kronos began tracking this phenomenon in 2005.
News Facts
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More employees than ever expect to miss work on #SuperMonday after the Super Bowl.
- An estimated 17.5 million U.S. employees say they may not go to work Monday after Super Bowl LIV. The record-setting figure surpasses previous estimates from The Workforce Institute at Kronos in 2019 (17.2 million2), 2018 (13.9 million3), and 2016 (16.5 million4).
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A remarkable 11.1 million5 employees say they will likely use preapproved time-off, while 4.7 million6 employees plan to call in sick even though they’re really not ill.
- Ghosting is a trend the Workforce Institute is now tracking: 1.5 million7 employees say they will not tell anyone they’re not coming in and they just won’t show up.
- Another 11.1 million8 employees plan to go to work late, while 7.9 million9 will wait until the last minute to decide whether to go to work Monday.
- More than a quarter (29%) of employees confirm they’ve missed work or gone in late at least once on the Monday after a Super Bowl in the past, including 10% who faked an illness.
- Regardless of the game’s outcome, 67% of employees say they are happy that Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots have the Super Bowl off this year.
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Will The Big Game Ever be The Big Holiday Weekend? It Will Still Take a Hail Mary.
- This year, 40% of employees agree the Monday after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday, compared to 32% in 201910. Nearly two-thirds (63%) believe the Super Bowl should be moved to the Sunday night before Presidents Day, which is already a national holiday in February where some businesses close or cut back on their planned workload and staffing.
- As interest in a Super Bowl holiday seems to grow – Fox is running #SuperMonday commercials to rally fans behind the movement this year – a separate Workforce Institute at Kronos and The Harris Poll survey11 found 64% of employees say paid holidays should become more aligned with popular cultural events that affect their everyday life instead of historic or religious events.
- About a quarter of employees (24%) believe more federal holidays should be created in addition to the current ones if needed and nearly two-thirds (60%) would be willing to replace an existing federal holiday with a new one.
- Days of the year employees most wish were paid holidays include: New Year’s Eve (33%), Black Friday (26%), their birthday (25%), Election day (20%), Halloween (19%), July 5th (16%), and their community’s first day of school (13%).
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Workplaces need a proactive game plan to beat Super Bowl absences.
- More than half of employees (56%) say their employer does not plan for increased absences that can happen on Monday after the Super Bowl. About 1 in 10 employees say their employers have reacted after the fact by issuing reminders about limiting future absences in general (11%) or limiting future Super Bowl-related absences specifically (10%).
- Super Bowl Fever is more likely to strike engaged employees: Nearly one-fifth (19%) of engaged employees say they’ll miss work or go in late on Monday versus just one-tenth (11%) of unengaged employees who will miss all or part of the day.
- However, engagement-crushing discipline can also occur: 9% of employees witnessed or heard about a coworker getting in trouble or being fired for missing work Monday after a Super Bowl; 9% were personally spoken to or given a warning for missing work; and 6% weren’t allowed to use sick time or were docked pay because they were not really sick.
- One bright spot: 7% of employees report their manager actually said they were happy the employee took Monday after the Super Bowl off.
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The Super Bowl kicks off a busy 2020 that will challenge productivity all year long.
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Nearly half (48%) of employees say they expect to miss work, come in late, or be distracted (for example, by spending time on the clock reading about or live streaming) because of pop culture or current events this year.
- Big 2020 events that don’t happen every year that are expected to impact productivity include the U.S. Presidential campaign (15%) and Tokyo Summer Olympics (13%.)
- Annual events will have an impact, too, including Hollywood award shows, such as February’s highly rated Academy Awards and other TV/movie events (17%), March Madness and major basketball games (16%), and the Masters and other golf tournaments (9%.)
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Nearly half (48%) of employees say they expect to miss work, come in late, or be distracted (for example, by spending time on the clock reading about or live streaming) because of pop culture or current events this year.
Supporting Quotes
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Joyce Maroney, executive director, The Workforce Institute at Kronos
“Despite the well-documented spike in workplace absences on the Monday following the Super Bowl, many organizations continue to operate as though it is business as usual that day. While the focus remains largely on reactive measures – such as memos, discipline, and even firings – organizations that proactively plan will be rewarded with fewer absences and, more importantly, higher employee engagement. I find it very encouraging that engaged employees are more likely to take Monday off: This signals they’re able to have open and honest conversations with their employer about time off and, conversely, it’s likely their employer promotes flexibility. 2020 will be one of the biggest years for workplace absence due to an action-packed calendar of major events and pop culture milestones. Organizations that embrace this through open discussions around time off, self-service scheduling, and company-wide events will find themselves with a significant advantage in the competition to recruit and retain top talent.”
Supporting Resources
- Note to editors: Please refer to this as “The 2020 Super Bowl Fever Survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos and conducted by The Harris Poll.”
- Read The Workforce Institute at Kronos report “Pop Culture and the Workplace,” which includes practical advice to better manage employee absence.
- See the fourth anthology from The Workforce Institute at Kronos titled, “Being Present: A Practical Guide for Transforming the Employee Experience of Your Frontline Workforce.”
- Kronos CEO Aron Ain shares how to transform employee engagement into a growth strategy in his book, “WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work.”
- Subscribe to The Workforce Institute at Kronos for research, blogs, and podcasts about managing today’s modern frontline workforce to drive engagement and performance.
- Connect with Kronos via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is a leading provider of workforce management and human capital management cloud solutions. Kronos industry-centric workforce applications are purpose-built for businesses, healthcare providers, educational institutions, and government agencies of all sizes. Tens of thousands of organizations — including half of the Fortune 1000® — and more than 40 million people in over 100 countries use Kronos every day. Visit www.kronos.com. Kronos: Workforce Innovation That Works.
Survey Methodology:
The “Super Bowl Fever” survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll between Jan. 16 - 21, 2020 among 1,148 employed U.S adults aged 18+. This online survey is based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact daniel.gouthro@kronos.com.
Footnote 1: Calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics December 2019 report that estimates there are 158,803,000 employed people in the U.S.: 158.803 million x 0.11% of employed adults who may stay home = 17.46 million.
Footnote 2: Respondents were asked a similar but different question in 2019. Results available here.
Footnote 3: Respondents were asked a similar but different question in 2018. Results available here.
Footnote 4: Respondents were asked a similar but different question in 2016. Results available here. No survey was conducted in 2017.
Footnote 5: Calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics December 2019 report that estimates there are 158,803,000 employed people in the U.S.: 158.803 x 7% preapproved time off = 11.1 million.
Footnote 6: Calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics December 2019 report that estimates there are 158,803,000 employed people in the U.S.: 158.803 million x 3% who will pretend to be sick = 4.7 million.
Footnote 7: Calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics December 2019 report that estimates there are 158,803,000 employed people in the U.S.: 158.803 million x 1% who will “ghost” their workplace = 1.5 million.
Footnote 8: Calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics December 2019 report that estimates there are 158,803,000 employed people in the U.S.: 158.803 million x 7% will go to work late = 11.1 million.
Footnote 9: Calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics December 2019 report that estimates there are 158,803,000 employed people in the U.S.: 158.803 million x 5% will decide at the last minute = 7.9 million.
Footnote 10: Respondents were asked a similar but different question in 2019. Results available here.
Footnote 11: The “Holidays at Work” Survey was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of Kronos from Oct. 3-7, 2019 among 1,180 employed U.S. adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
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