Record number of people expected to call out day after Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the most watched T.V. event every year, which has led to millions of people calling out of work the next day.

This year is no different. A survey shows a record 26.2 million people are going to skip work on Monday with ‘Super Bowl fever’.

Football fans have plans for the big game.

“Hopefully a Super Bowl party,” said Anthony Pena, a Patriots fan. “If not, I’ll watch it at home with the family, but definitely a celebration regardless.”

And for some, that late night celebration—might affect their work the next day.

“Might go in a little late,” said Pena.

“Yeah, I probably will slack off a little bit, don’t tell my boss,” said Peter Gualtieri, from Lynn.

Whether it’s clocking in late, or just not coming in at all, UKG, a global AI platform for human resources, pay and workforce management says the sick calls are growing.

“We’ve had these numbers since 2005, they keep going up,” said Julie Develin, Senior Partner, Human Insights at UKG.

Every year, UKG uses the Harris Poll to study Super Bowl related absenteeism. This year, the poll found a record 26.2 million people are expected to miss work the Monday after the big game.

“This is not a surprise,” said Develin. “This is something that organizations today should be planning for, because we know when the super bowl happens every year. It’s like preparation beats reaction.”

According to UKG’s research, 13.1 million people plan to take a pre-approved day off, 3.3 million intend to call out sick, despite not being ill, and 1.6 million plan to ghost work without notifying their employer. Meanwhile, 4.9 million say they’ll show up late. But perhaps this is the biggest number that employers care about....

“What we’re looking at is about $5.2 billion in potential productivity losses when it comes to the lack of productivity the day after the Super Bowl,” said Develin.

Develin says employers are starting to use this as an opportunity to build trust within its employees, create a good working culture and talk about shift swaps or planned days off to prepare for these types of work disruptions.

“What you can control is having those conversations with employees and also having a really good workforce operating platform that you can see the data and know where you can get the right people in the right place at the right time,” said Develin.

Develin adds there are other major events this year, like the World Cup, where employers could see high numbers of absenteeism. But we might not see record sick calls after next year’s Super Bowl. That’s because the day after is Dresident’s day—a federal holiday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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