Rich Meneghello's guest opinion " Your Employees Are
Ready For Football Season. Are You?" was published in
the Portland Business Journal on September 12, 2014.
It's estimated that between 30 and 40 million American workers
play fantasy football, with each of them spending about two hours
each workweek managing their teams. While workplaces may see
varying effects, the national economic impact is said to be about
$13.4 billion between now and the end of the season.
How worried should employers be? And what can (or should) be done
about it?
The main concern for employers is undoubtedly the loss of
productivity. While certain fantasy football actions might be
considered illegal under state or federal law, the chances of
prosecution are small, and your company and your employees are
probably not going to be seeing armed agents storming your office
to break up a fantasy league anytime soon. Instead, your main
concern should probably be the employees researching this
week's starting players instead of this week's accounts
receivables.
Some employers may take a hard line "old school"
approach to address this issue. While other more flexible
managers recognize that employees will inevitably spend some work
time handling personal business or surfing the internet.
Regardless of the approach, companies should decide how they want
to handle the new football season so that issues are addressed in a
consistent manner and expectations are clearly outlined for all
employees.
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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
