Dear SafetyXChange Members,

How are your March Madness picks holding up? Yes, the office pool has become a venerable institution and the place to be this time of the year. But before diving in, here's something to consider.

The Drowning Pool

NCAA, NFL and other pools, not to mention pursuits such as fantasy baseball, football, NASCAR and even fantasy golf(!), seem like just fun and games. But they also can have a negative impact on business. You might have seen a recent report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas on the cost of the lost productivity at work due to the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

In case you missed it, the overall cost to employers in lost productivity because of March Madness: At least $3,793,910,400! Here are the numbers Challenger used to tally these costs:

• 58,548,000: The number of Americans estimated to be fans of college basketball (41 percent of a workforce of 142.8 million);
• 13.5 minutes: The average time U.S. workers are expected to spend on NCAA-related websites over the 16 business days the tournament lasts;
• $4.05: The average amount earned every 13.5 minutes by American workers; and
• $237,119,400: The cost to employers nationwide in lost, unproductive wages for each 13.5 minutes of time wasted on the Internet.

Executive Leadership

It's not just the guys and the gals on the shoproom floor and by the water cooler who contribute to these losses. A lot of it comes from the suits in the executive suites. Based on Challenger's formula, occupational data from the U.S. Department of Labor and ExecuNet's compensation survey figures, I calculated productivity losses attributable to executive participation in the NCAA pool. The number I came up with: over $315 million.

Here's how I arrived at this figure:

• 943,000: The number of executives who are estimated to be fans of college basketball (41 percent of the 2.3 million executive jobs in the U.S., according to the DoL);
• $20.88: The average amount executives earn every 13.5 minutes; and
• $19,689,847: The cost to employers nationwide in lost, unproductive wages for each 13.5 minutes of time an executive wastes on the Internet.

Conclusion

Please don't write me letters attacking the scientific validity of these figures. You don't have to tell me, for example, that it's a big assumption that all 943,000 executives who like college basketball participate in NCAA pools. All I'm trying to do is make a general point about NCAA pool-related productivity losses and the role of executives in generating them. The numbers might be shaky; but the conclusion is, I believe, based on a solid foundation.

So enjoy the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, everybody!

Wishing you career-and NCAA pool-success,

Lauryn Franzoni
www.execunet.com

EDITOR'S NOTE

Some Background on March Madness

For you non-sports fans and Canadians in the audience, the NCAA tournament to which Lauryn refers pits the top 64 college basketball teams in a series of head-to-head matchups. It's a one-game deal. The winner advances, the loser goes home. In Round 1, the field is cut to 32 teams, in Round 2, to 16. These teams are known as the Sweet 16. After that come the Elite 8 and the Final 4.

The nickname "March Madness" refers to the fact that:

• The tournament takes place in March each year.
• Every year at least one powerhouse school gets knocked off by an unknown (for example, this year Northwestern St. upset Iowa and George Mason beat heavily favored North Carolina).
• The games are exciting and typically arouse the passions of coaches, players, fans and even casual observers.

Glenn Demby
Editor-in-Chief

MARCH MADNESS

The Office Pool, the Law & Employer Policies

By Glenn Demby

Not to be a stick in the mud, but office pools aren't just bad for productivity; they're illegal. Every state in the U.S., except Nevada, bans organized forms of gambling. (There are also local enclaves in which gambling is legal, such as Atlantic City, NJ, and on Indian reservations.)

Theoretically, people who organize an office pool can be criminally prosecuted. Of course, this never happens. Office betting is too widespread and individual pools involve too little money for authorities to get involved. Consequently, the office pool has gained tacit acceptance from the law enforcement community.

Most employers also look the other way. In fact, many encourage pools because they're deemed to promote morale and esprit de corps.

But not all employers feel this way. An increasing number of organizations, especially churches, non-profits and public sector institutions have banned office betting. Here's a typical policy:

"(Company name) believes that employee gambling can lead to financial hardship and bad morale. All forms of gambling, including card playing, lotteries, dice, horse wagering, or betting on sports are prohibited on Company premises. Violators will be disciplined, up to and including discharge.

Employees who sell or attempt to sell sports pool cards or run other betting pools will be subject to discipline, including discharge. Employees found guilty of acting as bookmakers will be subject to immediate termination."

KNOWLEDGE SHARING

Office Pools & Workplace Violence

There's anecdotal evidence suggesting that office pools can lead to frayed tempers and acts of violence in the workplace. But we couldn't find any scientific evidence to this effect. Do any of you know of studies linking office betting and workplace violence and/or documentation of actual incidents of violence that were spurred by a betting pool? If so, please send a note to glennd@bongarde.com. We'll publish anything we-I mean, you--find in next Friday's issue of SafetyXChange.

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