Employers Prepare for Football Fever

Sven Goran Eriksson is unlikely to be the only manager suffering due to absences from within his team this summer so a Carlisle lawyer is advising bosses to be clear on company policy over World Cup absenteeism before the tournament gets underway or suffer the consequences of football fever.

With 13% of men and 4% of women admitting to having thrown a "sickie" to watch a football game or recover from football-related drinking the night before, employers need to plan ahead according to Burnetts' employment law specialist, Joanne Stronach.

She said, "Employers have a great opportunity to develop morale and employee relations during the World Cup. Managers can make the excitement of the tournament work for them by taking a more relaxed view by providing televisions or radios or allowing staff to wear their team's colours on match days. Being temporarily flexible on hours by letting staff finish early to enjoy a 5p.m. kick-off may not be ideal, but small, planned changes are preferable to an unpredictable number of employees taking the whole day off sick."

Even with the best bosses, there will still be some workers taking unauthorised absences so Joanne recommends telling staff that absence will be monitored with special investigations into match-day sickness. (Employers could insist on a doctor's sick note for even one day's absence during this period.)  A reminder to staff that attending work under the influence of alcohol is prohibited and would lead to disciplinary action could also help prevent problems later on.

Partner, Joanne is also advising that any football favours should be open to all staff if employers want to avoid claims of discrimination. She said, "It's important to remember that changing the rules or being flexible only for male members of staff, may leave you open to claims for sex discrimination. Also with today's diverse workforce, it's not necessarily the England matches that employees want to watch - if you have foreign workers you could be accused of race discrimination if you relax rules for the England matches only and not for matches of other employees' home countries."

For further advice on Employment Law, contact Joanne Stronach on 01228 552222.

30th May, 2006