A new study by Brazilian employee benefits provider VR has identified a sharp increase in workplace absences linked to betting and online gaming addiction.
According to the company, workers accumulated 976 days of leave related to gambling and gaming disorders across 37 recorded cases over the past four years. Some individual absences lasted as long as 89 consecutive days.
The figures point to a significant acceleration in reported cases. In 2022, VR registered a single case accounting for one day of leave. By 2025, that number had risen to 21 cases and 620 days away from work. This represents a 2,000% increase in recorded cases.
The latest annual figures also exceeded those recorded in 2024, when 10 cases resulted in 202 days of leave. Compared to the previous year, the number of cases increased by 110%, while total days away from work rose by approximately 207%.
The data was gathered from VR’s platform, which serves approximately 4 million workers across Brazil.
The findings add another dimension to the debate surrounding the social impact of betting in Brazil, with attention increasingly shifting toward mental health and productivity-related consequences.
Health authorities have already reported growing demand for treatment services associated with gambling-related disorders, while policymakers continue discussing measures aimed at reducing gambling harm and limiting exposure to betting advertising, with several municipalities across the country restricting it by law.
More than 30,000 illegal operators were also blocked by Brazilian authorities recently in an ongoing effort to curb betting harm.
More than 500,000 Brazilians opted out of betting by the self-exclusion button
