Web Gambling While You Work
Judging from the lunchroom activities in your typical workplace, plenty of organizations can see as much action as Vegas on a Saturday night. Consider the office pool, lottery syndicates, spread betting, and the newest and perhaps most insidious star in the games-of-chance galaxy, internet gambling.
That last compulsion is what Mark Griffiths (Nottingham Trent U) says managers should really worry about. Writing in the Journal of Workplace Learning, he says internet gambling can transform a mild habit turn into a raging addiction because it is a hidden, solitary activity.
“Employees do not even have to leave their desks as they can set up internet accounts with a variety of different bookmakers, online bingo operators, or online casinos,” he writes. “Part of the problem stems from the fact that employers are reluctant to acknowledge gambling as a workplace issue and the possible implications that may arise from it.”
Griffiths doesn’t offer any statistics on the prevalence of web-based gambling at work; he says the area is woefully understudied. He does offer advice to managers to help identify and deal with problem gambling at work. He suggests managers make available diagnostic gambling checklists, monitor monthly telephone bills and check internet bookmarks of staff, develop a “gambling at work” policy, and offer support to identified problem gamblers.
“Internet gambling in the workplace,” by Mark Griffiths; Journal of Workplace Learning (Vol. 21 No. 8, 2009, pp. 658-670)
If you cannot find this journal is your local library, email me for a copy of the article at Alan [at] AlanMorantz.com
