The 19th FIFA World Cup starts on 11 June 2010. 32 countries will do battle in a total of 64 matches over a period of one month leaving one victorious team.
Football frenzy is about to engulf us whether or not we are fans of “the beautiful game”.
A survey by Kelloggs has recently revealed that around one in seven workers is planning to watch every game in the World Cup but only one in ten said they would be allowed to take time off. Worse still, only one in 20 said they were happy to use their own holidays to watch games in the day. Where does this leave business in what is an already difficult economic climate?
Employers should be asking themselves, now, before the opening of the World Cup, are we as a business prepared? What can we do to minimise absenteeism?
1. Policies
Look at your sickness and absence policies. Are they contractual, in which case you are limited in what you can do or are they non-contractual in which case you have some flexibility in the way you manage absences? Do all your employees know about them?
2. Holiday
You may wish to consider reminding employees that the World Cup is imminent, and encourage them to book holidays in advance for the dates that they wish to view World Cup games. Inform staff that annual leave will not be unreasonably refused, but may not be granted in order to maintain minimum staffing levels. Obviously it is in the best interests of the Company that employees take holidays, rather than pull ‘sickies’ and it allows you to plan. You still need to be fair about agreeing holidays and making sure that they are shared out fairly.
3. Flexible working practices
If it is appropriate, consider offering flexible working practices to your employees so they can make the time up.
4. Bring a television in
Allow employees to watch key matches on TV in the canteen or another communal area. This is a relatively easy way to give office-based employees access to the games in real time and combined with flexible working practices means that everyone wins!
5. Behaviour at work
Be very clear to your workforce that your normal expectations of the standards of behaviour of employees will not be lowered during this period. Observe and act upon behaviour which could be seen as bullying or harassment of supporters of other teams in the World Cup. Good-natured enthusiasm can all too easily turn into something else and leave you with a (potential expensive) problem which lasts beyond the World Cup.
6. Reporting sickness
Employers could consider ensuring that the ‘point of contact’ for employees reporting sick during the World Cup is primed to ask a number of questions about symptoms etc. Hopefully if employees know that they will be asked a few probing questions, they may be discouraged from calling in sick in the first place.
7. Return to work interviews
Diplomatically, let your workforce be aware that any absences that coincide with World Cup games may be scrutinised more closely than usual and look for patterns in absences. If a pattern of absence is found for an employee during the World Cup, consider disciplinary action.
Employers should note, however, that even if an employee is found to have been absent from work on match days, there is still the need to avoid liability for discrimination and unfair dismissal. An employee may be absent from work on crucial match days, but if for example that employee has a disability, care must be taken to ensure that it is not their disability that has caused them to be absent, rather than World Cup fever.
8. Ensure fairness
There are 31 other countries in the World Cup; your employees may well support them. You need to make sure that they receive the same level of flexibility and perks as your England supporters.
Don’t forget the non-football supporters amongst your employees. Consider their requests for holiday in the same fair light and provide them with similar flexible working options and non-football perks during this month of football madness and if at all possible provide an area free of football!
It would be hoped, that if the above measures are taken, they should, at the very least, discourage some potential absentees during the World Cup. However, it is to be expected that some employees will still call in sick, no matter what steps are taken to try and prevent absences.
For employers, a fine balance has to be made between the needs of the business and what could be a huge amount of goodwill that could be gained from accommodating employees to follow the tournament.
Just as an aside: if you’re bringing a TV in for your employees to watch the World Cup, don’t forget that you need a TV license for your premises!
