Employment Law Solicitors and The World Cup
Employment law solicitors and the world cup aren’t two things that obviously go hand in hand, but the impact the world cup will be having on the workplace in the coming month will be huge and if employers get it wrong there could be employment law consequences.
Business agencies are predicting losses to businesses across England in the coming weeks as unauthorised absence and potentially false sick days are taken by staff keen to watch the world cup. Employment law solicitors are urging businesses to have a well publicised policy in place on sickness and unauthorised absence. Employers obviously have the right to take disciplinary action for unauthorised absence, but must be more careful with sick days.
The better England do in the competition the more matches that will be played and the more likely it will be that staff request holiday towards the end of the competition. Employers need to have a clear policy on holiday requests and plan ahead. Obviously everyone can’t take the day off at once, but it is worth considering being more flexible than normal during the World Cup.
In order to avoid potential accusations of discrimination employers must remember than not all football fans will be England supporters and that efforts should be made to accommodate staff request to watch other countries’ matches too. Furthermore, the stereotype of football fans being male could be damaging: employers should not favour a male employee’s holiday request over that of a female member of staff.
The World Cup is a wonderful time for sports fans. Unfortunately for employers it can be problematic. Foresight, planning and open communication will go a long way to alleviating potential employment law problems.
