The World Cup headache: What are the options for employers?

Employers trying to plan ahead for World Cup should take note of the following advice from Murray Fairclough - a senior employment lawyer who directs the legal advice to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). According to Mr Fairclough, employers have a number of options to try and accommodate their football-loving staff whilst ensuring business disruption is kept to a minimum.

These options are:

- Agree with employees that they can take the relevant days off as part of their annual leave entitlement.

- Grant employees special unpaid leave. If only a limited number of staff can be off at any one time, this leave should be granted on a first come-first served basis and employees could be encouraged to contribute a few hours pay to charity.

- Operate a flexi-time system on match days so that staff can watch the matches by, for example, granting them a longer lunch break or allowing them to come into work later and make up the time.

- Allow staff to listen to the radio or watch the television at work. Employers could allow short breaks at regular intervals or allow the radio or television to be on in the background. Either way, it should be made clear to employees that this is a privilege and any abuse will mean that it is withdrawn.

Murray Fairclough said: "employers are advised to issue staff with an office memorandum, explaining the positive measures that they are taking to allow everyone to enjoy the World Cup. The memorandum should also advise employees that disciplinary action will be taken if they turn up late for work, fail to turn up at all on match days, or abuse alcohol. That way, employees will be in no doubt about the consequences of their actions. Finally, all employees should be told that if they phone in sick on key match days they must provide medical evidence, either proof that they visited their GP or a doctor’s certificate."

He concluded: "a number of employees are bound to abuse the system and may be tempted to either phone in sick on match days or simply not turn up for work at all. The golden rule here is to try and take action to prevent this happening in the first place."
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