SHRM Survey Findings: The Use of Office Pools April 25, 2013

Definition In this survey, the term “office pools” refers to gambling in the workplace, including games, competitions or other events. Office pools can be linked to football games, the Super Bowl, the Oscars, the NCAA basketball championship tournament, etc. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Key Findings  Do organizations have a policy that addresses office pools? A majority of organizations (81%) indicated they do not have a written or unwritten policy that addresses office pools, an increase from 67% in In 2013 and 2010, 10% of organizations reported having a written policy addressing office pools. Only 8% of organizations reported having an unwritten policy in 2013, a decrease from 23% in  What is included in policies addressing office pools? Most policies that address office pools include “prohibition of gambling that includes monetary exchange in the workplace” (70%), “disciplinary action (not including termination) for failure to comply with policy” (69%), and “prohibition of any form of gambling, including office pools,” (66%).  How often do organizations enforce these policies? Of those organizations that currently have a written or unwritten policy in place, less than one-tenth (7%) have disciplined employees for noncompliance.  Do organization prohibit employees from taking part in fantasy sports teams (e.g., fantasy football or fantasy baseball) in the workplace? Currently, only 15% of organizations prohibit employees from participating in fantasy sports teams in the workplace.  Do office pools have a positive impact in the workplace? The top three areas that HR professionals perceived as positively affected by office pools were relationship building (70%), promoting team building (64%), and increasing employee engagement (54%). The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Key Findings (continued)  For which events do employees conduct office pools? In 2013, the top two events that employees conducted office pools for were the Super Bowl (65%) and the NCAA college basketball tournament (57%). Office pools for both of these events have increased since 2010, when 39% of organizations reported office pools for the Super Bowl and 36% for the NCAA college basketball tournament.  Is there an increase in the number of employees who do not come to work the day after a major televised event? Results indicate that more male employees (16%) are absent from work the day after the Super Bowl compared with female employees (7%). The same pattern is observed the day after the NCAA college basketball and football tournaments, with 6% of male employees compared with 2% of female employees not coming to work. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Does your organization have a written or unwritten (understood) policy addressing office pools? The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Does your organization have a written or unwritten (understood) policy addressing office pools? Comparison by organization staff size Organizations with 2,500 or more employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 500 employees to have a written policy addressing office pools. Comparison by organization staff size 2,500 to 24,999 employees (24%) 25,000 or more employees (44%) > 1 to 99 employees (5%) 100 to 499 employees (6%) Comparison by organization sector Publicly owned for-profit organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to have a written policy addressing office pools. Comparison by organization sector Publicly owned for-profit organizations (21%)>Privately owned for-profit (6%) The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Is your organization’s written or unwritten (understood) policy addressing office pools part of a gambling policy, or is it a stand- alone policy? Note: n = 58. Only respondents whose organizations have a written or unwritten policy addressing office pools were asked this question. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

2013 (n = 50) 2010 (n = 78) Prohibition of gambling that includes monetary exchange70% Disciplinary action (not including termination) for failure to comply with policy69%72% Prohibition of any form of gambling, including office pools66%83% Employment termination for failure to comply with policy63%67% A definition of what gambling in the workplace means43%63% Prohibition of any form of gambling, excluding office pools39%7% Does your organization’s policy include the following aspects? Note: Only respondents whose organizations have a written or unwritten policy addressing office pools were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations have a written or unwritten policy addressing office pools were asked this question. The asterisk (*) indicates the category was not included in the 2013 survey. In the past 12 months, has your organization disciplined employees for noncompliance with the office pools/gambling policy? (n = 44) The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Does your organization prohibit employees from taking part in fantasy sports teams (e.g., fantasy football or fantasy baseball) in the workplace? Note: n = 294. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

2013 (n = 337) 2010 (n = 150) Super Bowl39%65% NCAA college basketball tournament36%57% Lottery jackpot31% Fantasy football19%* Workplace baby pool (e.g., baby's gender, height, weight, birth day and hour) 18%23% NCAA college football championship14%* Fantasy basketball6%* Golf tournament (e.g., the Masters or U.S. Open)3%4% The Motion Picture Academy of America Awards (also known as the Oscars) 2% Fantasy or roto-baseball1%* Other5%7% For which of the following events do employees at your organization organize an office pool? Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates the category was not included in the 2010 survey. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Positive impact Negative impact No impact Relationship building (n = 315)70%5%25% Team building (n = 319)64%5%31% Employee engagement (n = 317)54%9%37% Manager/employee relationships (n = 318)40%16%45% Job satisfaction (n = 319)39%5%56% Corporate culture management (n = 315)33%19%48% Supervisory relationships (n = 318)23%18%59% Employee recognition (n = 319)12%8%80% The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM 2013 Note: Percentages may not equal 100% due rounding. 12 Generally speaking, would you say that office pools have a positive impact, a negative impact or no impact on the following areas at your organization?

Increases Stays the same Decreases Super Bowl (n = 282­)15%78%7% NCAA college basketball tournament (n = 276)6%91%3% NCAA college football championship (n = 275)5%92%3% The Motion Picture Academy of America Awards (also known as the Oscars) (n = 275) 1%97%2% Generally speaking, after the major televised events listed below, would you say the number of employees who do not report for work the next day increases, stays the same or decreases at your organization? The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

IncreasesStays the sameDecreases MaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale Super Bowl (n = 282­)16%7%77%91%7%2% NCAA college basketball tournament (n = 276) 6%2%90%97%3%1% NCAA college football championship (n = 275) 6%2%92%97%2%1% The Motion Picture Academy of America Awards (also known as the Oscars) (n = 275) 1% 97% 2% The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM Generally speaking, after the major televised events listed below, would you say the number of employees, by gender, who do not report for work the next day increases, stays the same or decreases at your organization? Note: n = 269. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due rounding.

Does your organization have formal/informal gatherings during these events? For example, certain organizations host parties or social events around watching a major sporting event. Note: n = 309. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Demographics The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Demographics: Organization Staff Size n = 311 The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Demographics: Organization Sector n = 297 The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Demographics: Organization Industry Organization Industry Percentage Manufacturing20% Health care and social assistance16% Professional, scientific, technical services14% Finance and insurance13% Government agencies10% Educational services9% Administrative, support and waste management4% Repair and maintenance4% Transportation and warehousing4% Arts, entertainment, recreation3% Construction3% Note: n = 313. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple responses. The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) Organization Industry Percentage Real estate3% Retail trade3% Utilities3% Wholesale trade3% Accommodation, food services2% Information2% Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction2% Religious grantmaking2% Agriculture1% Personal services0% Other9% The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM 2013 Note: n = 313. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple responses. 20

U.S.-based operations only 81% Multinational operations 19% Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same 34% Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location 66% Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 52% Each work location determines HR policies and practices 4% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 45% Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization? For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both? Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally? n = 324 n = 317 Note: n = 213. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding. Corporate (companywide) 71% Business unit/division 12% Facility/location 17% n = 215 What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey? Demographics: Other The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

22 SHRM Survey Findings: The Use of Office Pools Response rate = 13% 355 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this survey. Margin of error is +/-4% Survey fielded March 20-27, 2013 Survey Methodology The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM

For more survey/poll findings, visit For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit Follow us on Twitter SHRM Survey Findings: The Use of Office Pools About SHRM Research Project leader: Rob Boyd, researcher, SHRM Research Project contributors: Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research Copy Editor: Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center The Use of Office Pools ©SHRM