In some cases, workplace gambling activities may seem harmless and even team-building. In other cases, the gambling can negatively impact the business' productivity and cultural climate. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a national outplacement firm,  over  23 million workers will be competing in March Madness pools,  which equals a loss of $615 million to employers.

Employers should be aware if money is involved in office pools and other gambling type activities. Under California Penal Code section 337a it is illegal for employees or employers to engage in gambling in the workplace. Participants can be fined or or even imprisoned for violations of this law. Also, Penal Code section 336.9 covers betting pools of under $2,500, and mandates a maximum fine of $250 for participating in a pool of this nature.

What should an employer do about gambling in the workplace?

Be aware of when employees are gambling, such as for the World Cup,  World Series, Superbowl, etc.

Be consistent in your policy towards gambling as you would towards any other activity prohibited by law. If you allow employees to engage in a sports related pool, it will be difficult to discipline employees who visit poker websites on company time or company computers.

Recognize the symptoms of a problem gambler: attendance problems, deteriorating work performance, thefts, complaints about money problems or family problems, etc.

Create and enforce your gambling policy. With guidance from your attorney or other Human Resource professional develop a consistent policy regarding all types of gambling in the workplace. Include it in your employee handbook and other communications with all levels of employees. Explain it carefully to everyone, giving support to supervisors who will be enforcing the policy.

  

Visit California's Successful Crisis Communication Campaign

Dear Board Members,

As efforts to address the storm-induced transportation and infrastructure damage continue throughout the state, I want to update you on Visit California's ongoing response.

As you know, Visit California is primarily focused on long-term impacts to the state's most-traveled destinations, where infrastructure and transportation damage are raising the biggest concerns for the businesses and individuals who depend on travel.  

Visit California has enlisted the full power of our international offices to monitor global media coverage and perception of the California travel ecosystem. We fully expect to see increased coverage as more details regarding repair efforts and long-term closures come to light, and keeping a close watch on the ongoing coverage around the world is essential to informing how we can continue to convey a welcoming message to international travelers. All 13 international offices are working with travel trade partners in each market, providing the latest information on closures and alternative routes.  

Additionally, we are gathering on-the-ground intelligence regarding access to affected destinations. This includes rerouting familiarization tours to identify alternatives that we can distribute to consumers on www.visitcalifornia.com [2], in social media and in the upcoming _California Road Trips_ publication. We're also incorporating 17 California Welcome Centers into our communications plan, providing information and resources they can share with travelers in real time, and we remain in close contact with the Governor's Office, the California Department of Transportation, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, and the California Natural Resources Agency, among others.

Finally - and most importantly - with developments happening quickly, we depend on industry partners like yourself to be our eyes and ears.

Please continue to send us on-the-ground information that should be shared with travelers to ensure that we have the best, most accurate, most up-to-date information. We are sending weekly updates to every international office that they can share with trade and media. If you have information to include in that weekly briefing, please send it via email to jsweeney@visitcalifornia.com [3] by 10 a.m. Friday.

We are fortunate as an industry to be operating from a foundation that enables us to address these challenges. Thank you for your continued leadership.

Sincerely,

CAROLINE BETETA
President & CEO

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