Can’t wait for kick off for World Cup 2014, Wimbledon or the like or are you dreading the requests from staff for time off work to watch key matches – or having to deal with an increase in unauthorised absences!
It’s inevitable that staff will want to take time off work but as an employer you need to be clear as to how you are going to manage an increase in demand for time off work, lateness or poor productivity due to late night matches.
Whether your organisation has the laid back approach of setting up screens and allowing employees to watch matches at work or operates a ‘no nonsense approach’ to taking time off work, make sure you are prepared! With a few simple guidelines in place, it can make handling matters relating to time off to watch games a whole lot easier.
Employees are not automatically entitled to time off to watch World Cup games but, as reported by the CIPD, “employers should, where possible try to agree requests for leave, perhaps relaxing rules on the amount of staff off at any one time. Taking a positive approach helps with employer/employee relations and discourages employee’s taking ‘sickies’ but any request must be balanced against the needs of the business”.
Some organisations already operate flexible working practices which make it ideal to schedule work commitments around those all important matches and make up lost time where necessary. It may be a company decision to introduce a period of flexible working practices for the duration of the major sporting event to if this means the organisation can still operate a ‘business as usual’ approach.
But how do you manage the potential situation of increased unauthorised absence or non-genuine sickness absence?
A briefing or memo to staff giving guidance on how absences will be handled during major sporting events will give a clear indication as to how situations such as suspicious ‘sickie’ days will be handled.
As a deterrent, you may wish to introduce a requirement for employees to speak directly to a nominated person within a department or HR to explain their reason for absence – if this isn’t already covered under your sickness absence policy. Likewise, a requirement to produce a medical certificate to support periods of sickness absence could have the same affect.
But staff need to know that where holiday requests have been refused, and they then don’t turn up for work, this will raise suspicions about their absence. In situations relating to unauthorised absence, suspected non-genuine sickness absence, lateness for work or if a person is believed to be under the influence of alcohol – then a full investigation will take place and the organisation’s disciplinary procedures followed.
The World Cup is a great time for employers to adopt perhaps a more flexible approach to enable staff to enjoy the atmosphere and games so long as it does not have a detrimental effect on the business!
Enjoy tonight’s match!
