Super Bowl Monday — A National Holiday?

Over 16 million people take off work the day after Super Bowl Sunday, which costs the country about $1 billion in lost productivity. Yikes. But not all companies are willing to take that loss.

Kraft Heinz (as in Heinz ketchup) is giving their employees the day off work after Super Bowl LI. Not only that, but Heinz has started an online petition to make Super Bowl Monday– or “Smunday” as they call it, a national holiday. Once the petition reaches 100K signatures, they will promptly send it to Congress. Read the full story by CNN’s Doug Criss, here.

As an employee engagement professional, (ok, and maybe as a diehard football fan) I can certainly advocate for making “Smunday” a national holiday. “When organizations have to deal with unplanned absence, that’s like 50 percent more expensive than a planned absence,” says Joyce Maroney, director of the Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc., “…The big impact on business is unplanned absence.”

So if we know that the day after Super Bowl Sunday is going to be a wash, why aren’t we doing anything about it? Why not consider flexible hours, a work-from-home day, or the very least, complimentary bagels and coffee for breakfast? (Hey, wouldn’t hurt!)

Either way, we want to know what you think– Should the day after Super Bowl Sunday be a national holiday? Comment below!