Rink

reg manages a rink and recent- ly shared a unique situation in the hopes that others can learn from a seemingly innocent sit- uation. Here's the story, as told by Greg: My video game vendor recently stopped by and realized that he needed to install a new switch on the bubble hockey game in the lobby. Without it, the game stayed in the 'free' mode, and anyone could play as often as they wanted for free. Since it was going to be a few days before the part came in, he asked me to keep the game in the employee break room where my staff could take advan- tage of the freebies, but at least this move would limit the use by the arena patrons, who would in all likelihood play all day long and cause even more damage. This was a great little benefit as a few of the staff had at one time or another dreamt about going pro on the bubble hockey circuit. Capitalizing on the com- petitive nature of the games, we put together a double elimination tourna- ment. Needless to say, the competition was fierce. I worked it so that employees during their shifts could breakaway for 10 minutes to play each other, so long as work was done and there was down time. As I fought my way up from the loser bracket, I realized that not only did I have a legitimate chance at winning the whole thing, I also believed that "Employer of the Year" was within grasp too! Not only was my staff having fun, but morale was up, and more important- ly, everyone was pitching in on cleaning and maintenance, which were normal tasks assigned to the person at the bot- tom of the food chain. Then one evening I received a call at home from the guys at the rink. I had been eliminated from the tournament, so I assumed that the call was in regard to who was named champion. It was, how- ever, one of my managers letting me know that 911 had been called, and that another employee was being taken to the hospital with a head injury. Apparently one of my salaried guys had attempted to jump over a chair in celebration of his 6-5 OT win, caught his foot on the seat and crashed head-first into a table, knocking himself out. The staff responded appropriately, and handled an unfortunate accident professionally, and my injured employee ended up being just fine, but I ended up having to treat it as a workers comp claim because he wasn't clocked out and it happened during a staff activity. I'm a big proponent of having fun at work, particularly if it gets everyone involved. However, anytime employees are on a break they should be clocked out. This includes making staff meal runs, playing pick-up hockey and yes, even playing video games. There is too much at stake to allow the unforeseen to become the reality. It's common in facil- ities with salaried employees to make exceptions on this. I've been guilty of it myself, have you? ★ by John Monteleone STARrinks.com ■ Lessons learned at the rink this month. 54 R INK MAGAZ INE November/december 2011 the final cut I'm a big proponent of having fun at work, particularly if it gets everyone involved. However, anytime employees are on a break they should be clocked out. G On The Bubble

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