A survey by the Chartered Institute of Management last week found that 54% of Employers (687 surveyed) were panicking at the thought of employees being distracted by online coverage and 20% thought that employees would take unauthorised time off to watch games.
With a bit of planning your Employer can reduce their anxieties by considering:
- The conduct they expect from you during the World Cup, including how they deal with any problems such as people taking unauthorised time off (including sickness absence that may not be genuine).
- What they will do if you turn up late for work or turn up drunk for work after a match.
- How they will handle requests for time off/holiday.
- If they will allow you to watch the World Cup on TV or online at work.
- How they will react to workers using the internet heavily while at work to follow the World Cup.
- and then explaining all this to you clearly beforehand.
Employers are being urged to be flexible, where possible and:
- Offer flexible working arrangements during the World Cup (not just for England games) if possible.
- Alter start and finish times if possible.
- Provide facilities to watch games on TV at work if possible (and allow you to make up the time later).
- Agree to leave requests where possible. There is, of course, no legal requirement for Employers to let workers have time off to watch World Cup matches. Employers need to decide whether they can accept requests, taking into account the business needs. However, it may not be possible for them to agree to ALL leave requests – but they should deal with competing requests fairly. This means they cannot discriminate by, for example, only allowing time off to watch England games (and not other countries games), or by refusing requests for other sporting events (e.g. Wimbledon).
- Finally, Employers are advised to keep some areas of the workplace football-free for those who are not interested (hurrah!).
Please note that the advice given on this website and by our Advisors is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative interpretation of the law. It can also not be seen as specific advice for individual cases. Please also note that there are differences in legislation in Northern Ireland.
