For sports fans, this summer is a big one. Wimbledon will soon be here, the European Football championships and the Olympics to name but a few! It is so easy to get involved in great sporting achievements…in my case Grimsby Town getting promoted ! It might not be the same as England winning the Euro’s, unless you are a Grimsby supporter of course !
For sports fans, this summer is a big one. Wimbledon will soon be here, the European Football championships and the Olympics to name but a few! It is so easy to get involved in great sporting achievements…in my case Grimsby Town getting promoted ! It might not be the same as England winning the Euro’s, unless you are a Grimsby supporter of course !
However, such sporting events when held during the day can cause problems for employers with increased annual leave requests, sickness absence and colleagues turning up at work suffering from an abundance of alcohol after watching the “Big game” in the pub the night before. Sometimes, there are even issues with staff checking social media for latest news and scores whilst at work.
I don’t want to be the party pooper, but staff need to be aware that they are at work to…work. They should only be off sick if…sick. Yes we all want to know how England are doing or if Mo Farah has broken another record, so maybe some flexibility can be allowed but it has to be reasonable. Staff should not take advantage of your good will.
So what to do. Well the normal HR policies will apply. Sickness reporting procedures, disciplinary etc. Should you issue a memo to staff to remind them of this in advance of the events? You could but first consider if this would sound negative. Consider if it would be more appropriate to embrace the sports. Maybe have a staff sweepstake (Not that I’m encouraging gambling), have sports TV on in the staffroom at lunch times or even arrange a sports themed staff bbq outside working hours – it all adds to good will. However, if there are problems develop, make sure that your stance is known straight away, and what behaviour is and is not acceptable. Use the policies and procedures to you have at the appropriate time.
Enjoy the summer!