Let staff watch the world cup, says TUC

Hi Mark

England duly proved that I had indeed scored an 'own goal' with my earlier prediction!

N Webley, couldn't agree more on the troops issue, I also think we should make St Georges day a bank holiday, but you're wrong on this issue. British (note British, not just English!) workers are the hardest working in Europe already doing more hours a week than our neighbours by some considerable margin.

I happen to have worked my effing socks off this last few years and have contributed massively to the Inland Revenue, do you propose I should "work (my) guts out for this country to get it back on it's feet??" The country's economic mess is no fault of mine, i've been working my guts out already to do my bit but you think I should do more to repair the damage done by greedy banks and fat cat former ministers and expenses fiddlers? No chance.

Anyway back to topic, we did let staff watch the match, England won and the office mood was greatly improved. I'm sure productivity dipped a bit for that afternoon but I can guarantee that it would have dipped a heck of a lot more if we'd said 'no football'. Point proved and decision justified at least at our place.

So N Webley, how would you manage a situation where you have employees phoning in sick to watch the game because you have not been forward thinking enough to score a few easy morale boosting wins with the staff?

I agree with you that the efforts of the armed forces should always be recognised, but lets not lose sight of the issue here.

There's a simple way to get 'this country back on it's feet', and that's to tax the banks (those who caused the problem in the first place) but that's for a different discussion...

Shame the TUC don't also encourage employers to let employees have time off to pay tribute to returning troops dead and alive from their gruelling work abroad.....this is a sport fgs,overpaid people doing something others do as a hobby and getting paid an extortionate amount whether they " do us proud " or not!! Well said Gareth,no wonder the country is in the state it's in,TUC needs to get a grip on reality,ok flexible working hours to accomodate illness or family illness kids etc but fgs a footie match??? We expect the Govmt in power to pull it's socks up and work for us,why can't we all get our noses to grindstone,tighten the belts stop complaining about what we can't have( less of the I want and I'm entitled to society) and appreciate and work our guts out for this country to get it back on it's feet?? Anyone want a greatly over-used soap box?

Gareth is absolutely right and Jason too but the unfortunate fact is that many will take unauthorised leave as a direct or indirect consequence of the football world cup. Even in this difficult economic time I have heard one employee give notice and leave his job because he could not take four weeks off as unpaid leave to watch the world cup. For a number of people this world cup will be more important than their job.

It has been said already but employers have two options, Be flexible or be hard.
In both cases it will be the employer not the employee who loses out, its just a case of mitigation. If flexible you'll win over the football fans but could be held accountable if similar arrangments aren't put in place later in the year for Wimbledon, test matches etc and then where does it end? If hard then you could face dealing with absenteeism, disciplinary issues and a heavily demotivated staff.

The hardest part is that for many employees they won't consider the impact on their employer at all and where you do please the football fans, you probably won't win over those that aren't.

You're assuming England will make the Quarters Craig? Possibly an 'own goal ' there. :-)

At the end of the day, it's a game of two halves...

On the one half you have the employees - strong and resolute in defence. Not all will want to watch the event unfold, but many will. Out of these who do want to watch the games, statistically few will have one too many and throw a 'sickie'.

On the other half you have the employer- can be very quick in attack. They want to manage the situation with as little fuss as possible (one would hope).

So, what's the best approach?:

a) 'Corner' and come down hard on the few that don't make it into work (although proving that they didn't because they were hung-over etc will be difficult) causing staff to kick-off'.

b) 'Tackle' it with a more pro-active management style and look at alternatives and flexible approaches where and when possible.

c) 'Throw-in' some other arrangements like Lieu Time, or TV at work.

The 'penalty' an employer may pay with a head-stuck in the sand way of dealing with it could be quite costly in the long-term.

I for one will be 'as sick as a Parrott' when England inevitably lose in the quarter-finals...

Are these people in the real world, flexible working is not an option if you have despatch dates. I operate continuous processes which take time to start up and shut down, incurring costs.

also not many companies have a TV licence so it is not an option to let employees bring a TV in, there's also the question of PAT testing and safety.

lol at Jeanette - so true.
It's only a game after all. Over rated maybe - but still only a game.

It's a bit early, the World Cup is held in New Zealand next year - or do they mean the Wendyball World Cup? At least it's only once every four years not an annual pandemic like Wombledon.

Well said Gareth - Plus where do the people go who hate football!!

Why just the world cup? Why not the cricket, tennis, rugby, olympic games, Ascot, European games, paralympics.... the list goes on! Lets just shut up shop and sit on our rears watching the TV all day. If people are that interested, record it on video and watch it in your own time and don't expect the business world to jump through hoops so that you can watch 2 teams you never ever show an interest in play.