The annual NCAA men's basketball tournament features the country's top college teams playing throughout March and culminating in a national championship April 2. Research shows employees in office pools will be less productive as they watch games and monitor scores during the work day, but smart employers won't fight it, Inc reports.

"While employers may worry about events like March Madness being a distraction in the office, allowing workers to enjoy sports-related activities for even a few minutes can be time well spent," says Brandi Britton, a district president for OfficeTeam. Britton's firm put out new research showing the average employee expends 25.5 minutes per day on March Madness-tied activities for 15 workdays. That comes out to more than six hours that are not spent on work.

The survey also finds that 46% of workers are huge fans of March Madness and other large sporting events, while 33% still participate even though they are not big fans. Just slightly more than 20% don't care to participate in sporting events in the office. "Companies should trust employees to manage their time," Britton says. "Good workers still get their projects done, even if they take occasional breaks."

The OfficeTeam survey collected responses from more than 1,000 U.S. office workers and more than 300 senior managers at companies employing 20 or more. Another survey by TSheets, an employee-time-management app, finds that 68% of workers say viewing games goes up or has no negative impact on their productivity, Inc reports. A Randstad U.S. survey from last year found that 89% of employees cited office pools as helping "build better team camaraderie."

March Madness and other major sporting events can foster greater interaction among employees. Smart managers will see this as a way to create a competitive advantage.

"The closer a team gets outside of normal work-related activities, the higher the chances they will produce and collaborate better during crunch time at work," Inc. reports.

Interest in March Madness only seems to be growing stronger, says Greta Cline, chief operating officer of Indianapolis-based That's Good HR. So reports the Indy Star. But March Madness collectively will cost employers $2.3 billion in time employees are enmeshed in the games, according to a 2018 study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"Between streaming games during work hours, filling out brackets to discussing games with co-workers, it's likely employees will spend much more than one hour" during March Madness, says Andrew Challenger, vice president of the human resources firm.

Other companies provide a monetary incentive for employees participating in March Madness office pools. Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway NCAA Tournament event will reward an employee who picks a perfect Sweet 16 $1 million a year for life, CNBC reports.

But now Buffet's firm will award an additional $1 million per year for life if one of his two favorite Nebraska teams--Creighton Bluejays or Nebraska Cornhuskers--wins the tournament.