Did you know National Football Hangover Day has been officially held for going on three years now? Katie Nolan, ESPN host and sports personality, introduced the ‘holiday’ to sports fans in 2019 (though fans have been unofficially observing this ‘holiday’ since the first Super Bowl in 1967).
According to results from a 2020 Super Bowl Fever Survey (pre COVID-19), it was estimated that approximately 17.3 million Americans would miss the Monday workday following Super Bowl Sunday. Some would choose to take pre-approved time off, some would call in sick, and some would just completely ‘ghost’ their bosses all together.
Break it Down:
United States Employment Numbers
- 61 million Americans employed in 2020
- It is estimated that number will decrease by 5 million in 2021
Number of employees expected to have missed Feb. 8 in 2020
- 1 million employees expected to have used pre-approved time off
- 7 million employees expected to have called in sick
- 5 million employees expected to have ghosted their bosses
According to the same survey but conducted in 2021, only 8.8 million employees plan to use pre-approved time off whereas a healthy 2.9 million employees plan to just not show up at all (nearly double the number of ghosts from the previous year).
One quite interesting takeaway between these two surveys was the drastic change in statistics regarding the number of employees planning to call in sick come this Feb. 8.
53% of respondents expressed they are worried to call in sick this year for fear that their employers will require a doctor’s note or a negative COVID-19 test result. Not to mention the 69% of respondents who shared they would feel guilty even pretending to be sick this year when so many people are truly sick from the virus.
Even still, 4.4 million employees do still plan to call in sick this coming Monday.
With approximately 16 million Americans planning to take full advantage of National Football Hangover Day and skip out on the workday, potential issues may arise. Should that be the case, our experienced HR professionals at Resourcing Edge are ready to help.
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