With kick off for the FIFA World Cup on Thursday 14 June, Acas have released guidance for employers on managing workplaces during this time.
Major sporting events can impact on workplaces, in particular on productivity levels (including increased use of internet for personal use), absences, holiday requests, an increased risk in discriminatory behaviour or uses of personal social media.
Workplaces should have guidelines in place to set out what is deemed acceptable behaviour (with reference to disciplinary policies where appropriate) and communicate this to staff. Employers may also want to consider flexible arrangements to retain staff morale and avoid lower productivity while employees are working.
Any flexibility arrangements (for example a change in times of breaks to coincide with a particular match) will of course depend on what is appropriate to the employer in their industry and be based on a number of factors, including business needs, the size of the workforce and competing interests within the workforce (where lots of similar requests are made). Employers should apply any flexibility broadly across the organisation, with no focus on a particular team (for example England matches) to avoid discrimination risks.