PTO Playbook: Super Bowl Monday Time-Off Trends Employers Can Plan For

The big game is almost here, but for managers, the real action comes the day after the Super Bowl. Without a game plan for Super Bowl Monday, you could be left with a shallow bench.

Among US-based employees, Super Bowl Monday stands out as one of the most predictable single-day PTO spikes of the year. Early planning data for 2026 already shows tens of thousands of employees scheduling the day off, and recent history suggests actual PTO usage will surge even higher with last-minute requests.

For employers, this makes Super Bowl Monday a uniquely foreseeable workforce planning moment—one that consistently differs from a “typical” Monday, even in today’s post-pandemic workplace.

Using aggregated PTO request data from the BambooHR® platform, this report looks at:

• How many US employees are already planning to take PTO on Super Bowl Monday
• What this could mean for actual 2026 Super Bowl PTO rates
• How Super Bowl Monday PTO has changed in the last 5 years

Read on to find out what Super Bowl Monday might have in store for your team and be prepared for game day.

• More than 27,000 US employees have already scheduled PTO for Super Bowl Monday 2026.
• Historically, Super Bowl Monday sees ~26% higher PTO usage than a typical February Monday.
• The Super Bowl Monday effect has been consistent since 2021, even as overall PTO usage has increased.
• Most Super Bowl Monday PTO requests come in late. Ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl, about 1.0% of employees have scheduled PTO, compared to an average of 2.3% who ultimately took the day off in recent years.

Ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl, nearly 1 in 100 US employees has already scheduled PTO for the following Monday. And this number only reflects the workers who’ve planned their PTO in advance—those night-before and morning-of requests are still forthcoming.

"Team members will likely make a 'game time' call on Monday about whether they're ready to contribute productively—but the accumulation of these calls can lead to unplanned time away that is disruptive to business operations and customers," says Kelsey Tarp, Director of HR Business Partners at BambooHR.

While roughly 1% of employees have already scheduled PTO for this year’s Super Bowl Monday, historical patterns suggest actual PTO usage typically ends up much higher.

Since 2021, an average of 2.25% US employees have taken PTO on Super Bowl Monday—more than twice the rate currently planned for 2026. This gap suggests that a substantial share of employees will be calling an audible and requesting PTO much closer to the date.

"Super Bowl Sunday shows why leaders can’t plan staffing based only on what’s been requested," says Wende Smith, Senior Director of People Operations at BambooHR. "The data is clear: PTO decisions concentrate late, and organizations that plan for historical reality—not just early signals—avoid disruption."

In every year since 2021, PTO usage among US employees on Super Bowl Monday exceeded that of a typical February Monday. On average:

• Typical February Monday: 1.77% of employees took PTO
• Super Bowl Monday: 2.25% of employees took PTO
• Average lift: +0.47 percentage points, or ~26% higher PTO usage

The consistent spike in PTO suggests the Super Bowl Monday effect isn’t a one-off anomaly, but a recurring workforce behavior that leaders should anticipate.

This pattern remains true even in the post-pandemic workplace. While overall PTO usage has increased since 2021, the gap between Super Bowl Monday and other February Mondays has not only persisted but widened.

So as values around work-life balance continue to evolve in the US workplace, one belief certainly holds strong for many Americans: Super Bowl Monday is a holiday.

This analysis is based on approved PTO request data and active US employee count data from the BambooHR® platform. Planned PTO data is based on platform data from February 2026, and historical comparisons are based on platform data from February 2021 to February 2025. PTO usage is expressed as the percentage of active US employees taking PTO on a given day. Other February Mondays are average to produce a per-Monday baseline, ensuring comparability with a single-day event.

This analysis measures confirmed, approved PTO recorded in the HRIS. It does not capture other forms of absence such as sick calls, informal no-shows, shift swaps, or last-minute schedule changes that may not be recorded as PTO. As a result, the estimates presented here reflect a conservative measure of time-off behavior, grounded in observed PTO usage rather than survey-based intent or self-reported absenteeism.

BambooHR^® is the leading global HR software platform that sets people free to do great work^®. It unifies AI-powered HR, payroll, benefits, talent management, and more than 150 integrations in a single system designed to simplify people processes and improve workforce clarity. Through its people intelligence platform, BambooHR delivers real-time insights that help organizations unlock potential and adapt as work evolves. Trusted by more than 30,000 companies across 190 countries and 50 industries, BambooHR supports millions of employees worldwide.