Employees of Weltmen Conformities are now receiving certified letters in their files if they are caught working instead of playing backgammon during their assigned “fun” periods.
The policy was launched last month after seven marketers were caught compiling deliverables when they were supposed to be playing the game.
“We have gone to great expense to install eight backgammon tables,” wrote CEO Maitlyn Halling in a memo to the Weltman staff. “This is in line with our mission to be perceived as an ‘informal’ and ‘engaging’ workplace, one that will attract and retain team members from a variety of backgrounds. We are disappointed that some are not fulfilling their responsibilities to be informal and engaging.”
Weltman mandates that each employee spend at least three hours per week at a backgammon table, assigned in three one-hour blocks. Each hour is spent with a different partner “to foster camaraderie, facilitate the spirit of cooperation, and pre-empt the petty rivalries and jealousies that can negatively impact the bottom line.”
According to company insiders, on April 30 the seven offenders had signed onto the tables, played for five minutes, then one by one snuck back to their offices to work on the deliverables report that was due the next day. Their actions were caught during a routine review of surveillance video.
“Meeting deadlines to impress one’s supervisor is no excuse,” Halling wrote, “and any superiors who encourage their employees to cheat on backgammon time will be dealt with even more harshly.”
For each backgammon hour missed in the future, Halling concluded, staffers will be assigned an additional two.
