Workplace tips to help survive Euro 2024 fever!

Summer is certainly taking its time to arrive, but the European Championship 2024 (UEFA Euro 2024) most definitely has arrived. Along with it we shall all witness the exhilarating ups and downs that the competing nations generate. If either Scotland or England get through to the latter stages (let’s hope they do) the New Dawn team thought it might be useful to give you a few HR tips. These could help you balance employees’ interests with the needs of the business, and maybe buy a decent slice of goodwill at the same time. We hope we are not tempting fate, but as football fever takes hold it is always good to communicate with your team early and have a structure in place.

Holidays during the Euros

Decide how to deal with additional holiday requests. Your normal policy is probably based on a first come first served basis, but how do you deal with holiday requests at other times of high demand? Do you ask employees to take turns? Be guided by your existing policies but also consider how you can relax them, for example by requiring less notice than usual if it doesn’t impact on work.

Flexibility

Being flexible might reduce both holiday requests and absenteeism. Could employees start early and leave early if there’s a match on? Could they take a late lunch or swap a shift with a colleague instead of taking holiday? As well as ensuring productivity doesn’t dip during the Euros 2024, this might generate goodwill with your staff if they think you are trying to accommodate them. The full schedule is here:

UEFA Euro 2024 – Groups & Schedule (bbc.co.uk)

which may help planning and unlike the World Cup 2 years ago as Germany are hosting,  the time difference is less of a concern.

Watching Euro 2024 at work

All businesses are different so decide how far you are prepared to go in order to accommodate viewing the matches. Can staff watch games during breaks on existing screens based in a canteen or meeting room? You might allow radio commentary, or let staff follow scores on work computers and personal devices. Can they go off site to watch as long as they make up the time the next day? Whatever you decide, be clear with staff about what is and isn’t acceptable.

Potential yellow cards

Internet, social media and devices

What about employees who want to watch the match but don’t want to take annual leave or make up the time? These days, it’s easy to stream matches on phones or get updated scores in real time on the internet. If you have an IT policy already which governs the use of devices and social media then remind staff about those rules. If not, decide on appropriate rules and communicate them to staff.

Sickness absence

There is an increased temptation to ‘pull a sicky’ during major sporting events, either to watch a match or recover from one. You should deal with sickness absence in the usual way during the tournament. Keep an eye on reasons for absence and any patterns of absence that occur immediately before or after major matches. Remind staff about your absence reporting procedures and return to work interviews. You could even modify your absence procedures by asking staff who are off sick to report to HR, rather than managers during the tournament. This might act as a deterrent but will ensure that matters are dealt with consistently. If you find out someone has ‘pulled a sicky’ then implement your disciplinary procedure.

Potential red cards

Discrimination and harassment

Remember that not everyone in your workplace will support England or Scotland or may not be interested in football at all. Avoid any potential arguments about unfairness by applying the same rules about time off to people who support different nations.

Also be aware of the potential effect of ‘friendly banter while people are watching the matches at work. What one employee considers to be a joke may upset or insult another employee, especially if someone is making comments about people or players from different nations. Make it clear to employees at the outset that they are expected to behave in an appropriate way during work hours. Remind staff that your Equal Opportunities policy will continue to apply during matches. 

TOP TIPS

  • Work out what rules will apply and communicate them clearly to ALL staff.
  • Remind staff about existing policies regarding use of IT, absence and potential disciplinary matters.
  • Deal with all requests for time off or flexible hours on a fair and consistent basis to ensure no particular groups are disadvantaged.
  • Be as flexible as possible if it doesn’t affect the business.