Half of bosses ready to offer ‘flexible working’ to World Cup fans
Just over half of employers (51%) are considering flexible working options for staff during the World Cup but lawyers warn that bosses must be consistent or run the risk of discrimination claims.
Legal practice, DLA Piper quizzed employers as part of a survey on intentions for managing staff during the football tournament. According to DLA’s findings many bosses are also considering shift swapping (33%), early finishes (59%) and late starts (35%) as part of their strategy for supporting World Cup fever without impacting on productivity.
Employers are less inclined, however, to allow flexible working during non-England matches with just 19% prepared to do so.
Commenting, Tim Marshall, UK head of employment and partner at DLA Piper said the approach could cause problems: "After what has been a really tough couple of years, a lot of UK businesses are seeing the World Cup as providing a bit of light relief and are offering flexibility as a way of boosting employee relations, as well as trying to mitigate the impact of unexpected absences in the workplace.
"Shift swapping and flexible hours are all great strategies, but business leaders need to consider the finer implications of their actions. By failing to offer staff who follow teams other than England the same opportunities for flexible working, employers are potentially opening themselves up to allegations of discrimination. Equally, by not offering flexible working patterns to staff that don't follow football at all, and expecting them to pick up their colleagues work, bosses could be undoing much of the goodwill they have tried to create."
The survey also probed bosses on plans for managing staff during other sporting events. According to their results, only 22% are considering offering the same freedom during other sporting events, such as Wimbledon or the forthcoming 2012 Olympic Games.
Marshall added: "Offering flexibility during a huge sporting tournament like the World Cup sets a precedent among staff, and employers would be well advised to remember that many people are just as passionate about tennis or athletics as they are football. Companies need to consider if they are willing and prepared to extend the same flexibility to staff for future events, or they could be setting themselves up for problems later."
Although many of the World Cup matches are to be screened online, during working hours, respondents to the survey had not considered their policies towards internet usage during the day, with only 18% reviewing their usage policies to ensure staff were aware of the limits of acceptable internet use.
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