At the close of my last post, I mentioned a couple of interesting topics that could be explored a little further. The one that most compelled me was Creamer's 2006 discussion of lost productivity in the workplace due to Fantasy Football. So, I started thinking, how many people have gotten fired for their fantasy activity?
CBS Money Watch posted this article about at least 4 men who were indeed. Fidelity Investments is one of many companies who track their employees' online behavior including web browsing history and e-mails. In this time of limited head counts and high productivity needs, FI decided that this lack of focus couldn't be tolerated.
But wait, is this legal? Well, it is completely lawful to fire someone for gambling in the workplace. While gambling isn't required of all players, many leagues have a buy-in fee and some end of season pay outs for winners. This, under law, makes it a gambling activity.
This story of Cameron Pettigrew and friends was an internet sensation in 2009 and 2010. Perhaps one of the best responses to the story came in the Risk Management Monitor blog, here. The author pulls together statistics and stories from around the web to craft a thoughtful follow-up to the incident. Sure beats all the "that sucks" type comments on other article discussion boards.
PC World shared this breakdown of an in-depth study of productivity loss due to fantasy football playing in the office. An interesting read, and though well cited, questionable to believe that the average salary of fantasy football players is $80,000 per year. However, whether the offenders are making $10 an hour or$100,000 a year, an average of 45 minutes a day still adds up.
Perhaps employers can fight this fantasy time-wasting with a unique enforcement strategy. Perhaps they should call Terry Tate, office linebacker.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/08/do-fantasy-sports-affect-workplace-productivity.html
ReplyDeleteThis LA Times article actually reports that fantasy football should be encouraged in the workplace. The point being that it brings together co-workers which would in turn boost morale in the office. I also found the PC World article you posted questionable pertaining to the facts listed about the average fantasy football player but it do agree with the arguments it has about other time-wasters in the workplace. Even though this stat seems off, an average of 45 minutes devoted to fantasy football seems miniscule to numerous smoke and coffee breaks, water-cooler talk and other internet usage. I agree with both the PC World and CBS Moneywatch article in that banning fantasy football in the workplace would do more harm than good.
To touch on the gambling issue, employees need to be smart enough not to emphasize this stipulation inside the workplace. Since most drafts take place either offline or online, they are usually occur outside of work. This is when the money discussions should take place.