Olympics: will your staff take time off?

New research by Monster has revealed that a quarter of employees may take time out of their workday to keep track of the Olympics, suggesting that employers should prepare for a drop in productivity.   

However, this news will not come as a revelation to employers; the idea of employees watching television in the workplace has been argued thoroughly in the past, with employers split between whether occasions such as the Olympics contribute to team-building or simply divert employee attention.

Employers may be easily divided into two sections: those who allow their workforce to watch the Games, either by taking holiday or watching events within the workplace, and those who choose not to. According to Darren Sherborne of BPE solicitors, there is no legal obligation to allow employees to watch the games within working hours, though this may have some positive outcomes for the employer:

“If you’re short on time at the moment, or a bit short of work as some people are as a result of the credit crunch, it’s a great time to allow people unpaid time off.  Also, [it may] show employees that you’re prepared to be flexible, so you might be classed as a good employer.” 

Indeed, should employers opt to allow workers to watch the Olympics, there are a number of ways in which this could be managed, with minimum effect upon the employer. Some ideas include:

• setting stipulations whereby people can take a half-day off at a time, taken as holiday;
• allowing staff to work extended hours to cover extra time taken off during the day; and
• allowing staff to shorten lunch hours, so long as they stay within the working time regulation limits.

If, however, a worker takes unplanned time off after being told they are not allowed, this may be treated as a disciplinary issue to be dealt with via normal company disciplinary procedures. Furthermore, Sherborne adds, employers should make clear the procedures that will be taken should any worker claim sickness throughout the duration of the Olympic Games:

“I think employers are perfectly entitled to say before an event, ‘Look, we’re expecting a rush for time off, it’s first come, first served [as] we need to maintain business levels. If you don’t get time off, and ring in sick on any day, you’ll be expected to provide a doctor’s note even for a single day during that period. We’ll pay for the doctor’s note, but if you don’t get it, it will be a disciplinary matter’.” 

The Olympics has drawn comparisons with national sporting events of the past, such as Euro 2004, where a similar survey of 2,000 people carried out by the Foreign Office suggested that 40% of employees would consider taking time off work to watch the event.

Earlier this year, TV Licensing also warned businesses that they risk a £1,000 penalty if they don’t have a TV licence and staff are caught watching sporting events, such as the Olympics, online.