Cheating Spouses May Cost Employers $17 Million a Day

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Think your employees’ extramarital activities only wreak havoc with their personal lives?

That’s not true. Those unfaithful employees could be cheating on you, too, by engaging in time theft during working hours. That, of course, could significantly impact your company’s financial bottom line. Says CNBC:

Cheating hearts devote a significant number of work hours to looking for love in the wrong places – on average around 1.17 hours a day – and it may be costing employers around $17 million a day, according to infidelity website Victoria Milan’s survey of its 4,000 members.

Sigurd Vedal, CEO of Victoria Milan, said in a statement that working hours are the prime cyber-cheating times. A press release from Victoria Milan said:

Sixty-eight percent of survey participants indicate that they interact with their online affair during work hours using their PC or smartphone, while 25 percent make time at home for their cheating activities. Only 7 percent of respondents indicate that they have to find other places to connect with their lovers.

Those who connect from work were also asked how much time they spend cheating online. Thirty-eight percent answered that they spend about half an hour on average, while 25 percent said that cheating online consumes about one hour of their workday. Another 19 percent admitted that between one and two hours of their workday goes to cheating online, and an amazing 18 percent reported that they spend more than two hours online every day pursuing their illicit affairs.

The report also indicates the $17 million loss may well be a low-ball estimate. Reports The Fiscal Times:

The website, whose tagline is “relive the passion, find your affair,” calculated the $17 million-a-day estimate by using the U.S. minimum wage of $7.25 an hour against its number of members around the world.

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