Forecasts call for ghoulies and ghosties to haunt the hills of Western Pennsylvania this evening, but it may be the long-legged, hard-bumping Pittsburgh Steelers beasties that set employers to quaking in the night.

	Daniel Marsula, Post-Gazette Click photo for larger image.

The football team's second appearance on Monday Night Football this season could trigger a regionwide black-and-gold flu epidemic as workers stay up to watch a game that starts at 9 p.m. A few too many beers, a few too many nachos on top of Halloween candy, not to mention scream-inducing bad calls really could make a fan ill.

Earlier this year, a work force management firm reported that 9 percent of employed adults have called in sick after staying up late to watch a televised sporting event, an awards show or political event such as the presidential election results.

The survey, done by Harris Interactive for Kronos Inc., did not tackle the emotional impact on the workplace. Losing to Jacksonville two weeks ago surely sapped time and energy from Pittsburgh workplaces endlessly rehashing quarterback Tommy Maddox's lackluster play.

Putting a price tag on such things seems almost silly -- how many employers are going to ban Steeler fever from the workplace? -- but human resources consultants sometimes need something more fun to talk about than the impact of prescription drug benefits on employee retention rates.

So Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. ran the numbers earlier this month on the business benefits and drawbacks of the White Sox making the World Series for the first time since 1959 (never mind that they went on to win the October Classic).

Economic development types likely were happy to talk about the findings that there would be a boost from stadium personnel working longer, bars and restaurants welcoming big spending visitors and even security officers hired.

On the other hand, "For each half-hour of unproductive work time spent on White Sox worship, Chicago employers stand to lose $34,215,740," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer. That number came from multiplying an average $7.64 in worker earnings per half hour times 4,478,500 people employed.

OK, so not everyone cares about the World Series, or even the Steelers. The outplacement firm's officials have defended their calculations by arguing that the steadfastness of non-sports fan workers could be offset by those who take a day off or spend three hours of the workday monitoring a game.

In the survey done by Rochester, N.Y.-based research firm Harris Interactive that found people calling off sick after big televised sporting events, the researchers also found, not surprisingly, the hardest hit might be organizations with a high percentage of male employees.

Work force management firm Kronos Inc., out of Chelmsford, Mass., paid for the online Harris survey of more than 1,300 employed adults. The firm's officials took a serious approach to addressing the lost time, suggesting better work force policies and stricter enforcement of existing policies.

But when the boss walks by tomorrow and overhears an intense analysis of the Steelers-Ravens game, employees might do better to pull out a copy of Challenger's August report on fantasy football leagues. The report projected $196.1 million in productivity would be lost during the 2005 NFL season as 32.2 million fantasy football players manage their teams.

Yet, the authors of the report -- perhaps sports fans themselves? -- suggested an employer crackdown might be even more costly to morale and loyalty, adding, "There are many distractions in the workplace everyday and another 10 minutes is not going to make or break a company."

Good thing, because the Steelers are on Monday Night Football a third time on Nov. 28 when they play the Indianapolis Colts.