Gambling issues at work

In the Gambling Act 2005, gambling is defined as gaming, betting, and participating in a lottery.

For some, gambling is harmless fun, but for others, it can develop into a serious addiction.

Choosing to gamble is not in itself a problem.

When gambling begins to interfere with an employee’s ability to perform their job or is interfering with their home or family life, this is when there is cause for concern.

How to Protect Your Business

Gambling addiction, though often overlooked, can be a serious threat to businesses, especially with the growing popularity of online gambling offering easy access to lotteries, slots, poker, and betting on sports.

Gambling addiction is estimated to cost the UK economy more than £1.2 billion each year.

Gambling can cause poor concentration, lost time, and productivity.

On average, gamblers lose more than seven hours of work time each month as a result of their addiction.

This can dramatically impact your entire team’s effectiveness, which in turn costs the organisation time and resources.

Gambling addiction is also associated with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

This will of course have an impact on performance at work and the ability to interact with other team members.

Learning to identify the warning signs in someone’s behaviour is the most important way you can protect your business and your employees from gambling addiction.

Warning signs include borrowing money and requesting additional pay in lieu of holidays or overtime.

This paired with visibly increased anxiety and poor performance at work could indicate a need for intervention.

Protecting Your Employees

Raising awareness of gambling issues in the workplace is an excellent way of letting your staff know about the help they can receive.

It also helps employees to be vigilant so they can spot the behaviours in colleagues and encourage them to seek help.

A report compiled by Public Health England on the risks of gambling showed that the North West had the second highest prevalence of at-risk gamblers (4.4%).

This is why it is so important to raise awareness and help minimise the risks of employees developing an addiction.

There are several places to seek help.

BeGambleAware is free to access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week either by phone at 0808 8020 133 or via live chat on their webpage – BeGambleAware

GamStop helps to control online gambling.

Once signed up, individuals are prevented from accessing gambling websites and apps run by companies licenced in Great Britain for a period of their choosing.

Gam Stop is a free service and is available to any resident within the UK – GAMSTOP – Gambling Self-Exclusion Scheme

GamCare offers employer training around the issue of problem gambling at work to increase understanding of problem gambling behaviour and to provide the necessary skills to help and support.

GamCare also offers direct support to problem gamblers including a recovery toolkit which is full of resources to help fight gambling addiction.