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

2. 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. 2

3. 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 2010.
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%). 3

4. 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. 4

5. Does your organization have a written or unwritten (understood) policy addressing office pools?5

6. 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.
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.
Publicly owned for-profit organizations (21%)
>
Privately owned for-profit (6%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. 6

7. 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. 7

8. Does your organization’s policy include the following aspects?
2013
(n = 50)
2010
(n = 78)
Prohibition of gambling that includes monetary exchange
70%
Disciplinary action (not including termination) for failure to comply with policy
69%
72%
Prohibition of any form of gambling, including office pools
66%
83%
Employment termination for failure to comply with policy
63%
67%
A definition of what gambling in the workplace means
43%
Prohibition of any form of gambling, excluding office pools
39% 7%
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. 8

9. In the past 12 months, has your organization disciplined employees for noncompliance with the office pools/gambling policy?
(n = 44)
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. 9

10. 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. 10

11. For which of the following events do employees at your organization organize an office pool?
2013
(n = 337)
2010
(n = 150)
Super Bowl
39%
65%
NCAA college basketball tournament
36%
57%
Lottery jackpot
31%
Fantasy football
19% *
Workplace baby pool (e.g., baby's gender, height, weight, birth day and hour)
18%
23%
NCAA college football championship
14%
Fantasy basketball 6%
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-baseball 1%
Other 5% 7%
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. 11

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?
Positive impact
Negative impact No
impact
Relationship building (n = 315)
70% 5%
25%
Team building (n = 319)
64%
31%
Employee engagement (n = 317)
54% 9%
37%
Manager/employee relationships (n = 318)
40%
16%
45%
Job satisfaction (n = 319)
39%
56%
Corporate culture management (n = 315)
33%
19%
48%
Supervisory relationships (n = 318)
23%
18%
59%
Employee recognition (n = 319)
12% 8%
80%
Note: Percentages may not equal 100% due rounding. 12

13. 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?
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%
The Motion Picture Academy of America Awards (also known as the Oscars) (n = 275) 1%
97% 2%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. 13

14. 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?
Increases
Stays the same
Decreases
Male
Female
Super Bowl (n = 282­)
16% 7%
77%
91% 2%
NCAA college basketball tournament (n = 276) 6%
90%
97% 3% 1%
NCAA college football championship (n = 275)
92%
The Motion Picture Academy of America Awards (also known as the Oscars) (n = 275)
Note: n = 269. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due rounding. 14

15. 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. 15

16. Demographics 16

17. Demographics: Organization Staff Size17

18. Demographics: Organization Sector18

19. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Manufacturing
20%
Health care and social assistance
16%
Professional, scientific, technical services
14%
Finance and insurance
13%
Government agencies
10%
Educational services 9%
Administrative, support and waste management 4%
Repair and maintenance
Transportation and warehousing
Arts, entertainment, recreation 3%
Construction
Note: n = 313. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple responses. 19

20. Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)
Percentage
Real estate 3%
Retail trade
Utilities
Wholesale trade
Accommodation, food services 2%
Information
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Religious grantmaking
Agriculture 1%
Personal services 0%
Other 9%
Note: n = 313. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple responses. 20

21. Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?
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%
U.S.-based operations only
81%
Multinational operations
19%
n = 324
n = 317
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?
What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?
Corporate (companywide)
71%
Business unit/division
12%
Facility/location
17%
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%
n = 215
Note: n = 213. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding. 21

22. SHRM Survey Findings: The Use of Office Pools
Survey Methodology
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 22 22

23. SHRM Survey Findings: The Use of Office Pools
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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 23