Employees of Weltmen Conformities will now receive certified letters in their files if they are caught working instead of playing backgammon during their assigned “fun time.”
“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 a ‘fun’ and ‘engaging’ workplace, and we are disappointed that some of you are not fulfilling your responsibilities to be fun 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 the memo, 22 staffers were discovered working during their backgammon time in April.
“Increased job responsibilities are not acceptable as an excuse,” Halling wrote – adding that, if needed, employees could work late to make time for their mandatory fun.
She also said that for each backgammon hour missed, the offending employee will be assigned an additional two.
