As the tournament has now begun and the England team squad has finally been in action, employers should be mindful of some of the potential obstacles/issues that they may encounter over the next few weeks.

We look at a few of these in turn:

How should employers deal with requests for time off?

There is no legal requirement for employers to give employees time off to watch World Cup matches. Employers should take a common sense and commercial view. How will employee absence affect the overall running of the business?

Requests for leave should be addressed in the usual way. To maintain overall staff morale it may be worthwhile to consider the option of flexible work (as appropriate) in order to accommodate the key fixtures. A blanket ban may in fact be counterproductive and employers should note that an intransigent approach on their part might lead to staff demotivation and resentment. As a suggestion, it may be appropriate to allow staff the opportunity to watch games during working hours and perhaps allow employees the right to make up the time by additional work at other times.

Be careful to avoid employees giving up their rest breaks. Employees are entitled to a 20-minute rest break for every shift lasting more than 6 hours. Workers should not take their break at the beginning or end of a shift. Other suggestions include offering extended lunch breaks or alteration in shift patterns.

What if employees spend an inordinate amount of their working time following the World Cup via the Internet?

Different employers will have a different view on this. Do you have an Internet usage policy in your staff handbook? If not, what is common practice at your workplace? Is personal use of the Internet prohibited or do you allow personal use subject to a reasonable use policy? In any event, employers should expressly state what their policy is. Ideally this should have happened before the tournament kicked off.

Where an employee breaches the rules, either by excessive use or accessing World Cup material where this is prohibited, then the matter should be addressed as soon as it comes to light. (more…)