Whether you are tuning in for the game, halftime show, or commercials, many people are looking forward to Super Bowl Sunday. However, those same people often loathe clocking into work the following morning.
According to the UKG Workforce Institute, about 22.6 million Americans plan to miss work the day after Super Bowl LIX—up from 16.1 million last year.
This year’s estimate breaks the previous record from 2018 when 18.8 million employees planned to call off work after the Super Bowl.
The survey found that millions of Americans have a game plan for Monday, whether it’s calling out sick even if they’re not actually ill (about 3.2 million), “ghosting” their employer by skipping work without telling anyone (another 3.2 million), taking a pre-approved day off (12.9 million), or swapping shifts with a co-worker so they don’t have to work on Monday (4.8 million).
Another 12.9 million U.S. employees say they’ll go into work late on Monday after the Super Bowl, according to another study conducted online by the Harris Poll on behalf of UKG.
The number of people who call off work after the Super Bowl has caught the attention of lawmakers nationwide. Some are attempting to make Monday after the Super Bowl an official holiday, while others have started petitions to urge lawmakers to create the holiday.
While no such holiday exists yet, UKG recommends that companies better plan for appropriate shift coverage rather than scrambling at the last minute to fill scheduling gaps.
