Workers paid to take the morning off so they can watch Game of Thrones season 6 premiere

THERE’S no need to chuck a sickie to watch the GoT Season 6 premiere — if you’re lucky enough to work for this company.

A TECH company in the United Kingdom is giving its employees a half-day off on April 24 — so they can stay up late and watch the Game of Thrones premiere.

The firm, +rehabstudio, surprised staff earlier this week when it announced they would get next Monday morning off.

“We’re always trying to look after our guys and make sure we’re giving them the best work environment and social life as well,” said the company’s founding partner Tim Rodgers.

The sixth season of HBO’s hit show premieres next Sunday and airs in the US at 9pm, but for UK viewers this means staying up until 2am to catch the screening.

Foxtel, which has the exclusive GoT rights in Australia, is airing the premier at the same time — 11am Easter Standard Time, a highly inconvenient hour for the nation’s office workers.

Many of Rodgers’ 68 employees at the Belfast office are obsessed with the award-winning series, especially because parts of it are filmed in Ireland.

“They are massive fans,” he said.

The half-day is now included in the company’s official holiday policy in its handbook, which was shared on LinkedIn by London operations director Emma Willis.

“When your company slips you an extra morning off work to recover from a #gameofthrones binge you know you’ve hit the jackpot,” she wrote. “Didn’t expect that in the company handbook this morning!”

The announcement has caused some “friendly banter” between the UK offices and those in the US, who are planning their own watch parties with their co-workers, Rodgers said.

“We have a great, friendly culture in the office,” Rodgers said, adding that he’s in the process of thinking up a special surprise for New York staffers.

And the policy has been good for business, too, with a 20 per cent increase in job applications this week following the news of the “GoT” perk.

“Looking after what you have and bringing great people in is super important to us,” Rodgers said. “We have a work hard, play hard atmosphere.”

Originally published as Workers paid to take the morning off so they can watch Game of Thrones season 6 premiere