World Cup 2022 & Work – How Employers Can Minimise Disruption

The World Cup in Qatar is almost here! With both England and Wales taking part (and playing one another in the group’s stage), there will no doubt be many people eager to keep an eye on the tournament throughout the competition. As a result, some employers may be concerned about their employees’ work, particularly with several matches taking place during normal working hours.

Below, we have outlined various ways businesses can help staff enjoy the football festival, whilst still being productive.

Advice to employers during World Cup 2022

A lot of employees are requesting time off work to watch World Cup matches, how do I handle this?

Employers may see an increased rate of their employees requesting time off to watch the matches during the tournament. This may well be the case for England’s first match of the tournament, which takes place at 1pm on Monday, 21 November.

If a business is unable to accommodate all requests, it is vital that staff members’ expectations are managed sufficiently. To do this, employers should ensure the time requested off work is granted on a fair and consistent basis.

Alternatively, businesses could allow temporary changes to employees’ working hours to allow them to watch matches and then make the time up at a later date. In some cases, this may be preferable to an employee booking off a full day or half a day of annual leave.

How do I prevent productivity from dropping during matches?

With many employees now working from home, some businesses may find that their employees are watching World Cup fixtures when they are meant to be working which may reduce the employee’s productivity.

Prior to the tournament starting or before key tournament fixtures, employers are advised to remind their workers of their responsibilities in respect of not watching matches when they are meant to be working.

I suspect an employee is ‘pulling a sickie’, what should I do?

If a member of staff has requested time off work and the employer has been unable to grant it, the employee may be tempted to call in sick when they are not ill in order to watch a game. Alternatively, the worker may have ‘overindulged’ whilst watching a match and decided to call in sick the following day.

During the tournament, employers may want to monitor sickness absence and take measures to prevent and deter employees from taking advantage of the system more closely.

This may involve reminding staff of sickness absence policies, in particular, what will be considered to be genuine reasons for absence and notifying staff in advance that any unauthorised absences from work could result in disciplinary action being taken.

What about excessive social media and internet use? Do I need to update business policies?

Businesses need to make it clear that excessive use of the internet and social media in order to keep up to date with World Cup 2022 will not be tolerated. Employers should reinforce internal policies that may already be in place on personal internet and social media usage.

Employers may want to actively check and monitor internet and social media activity during the tournament. If so, they should ensure that staff are aware this is a possibility by, for example, including it in the staff handbook.

How do I prevent alienating any workers who aren’t football fans or don’t agree with the tournament being held in Qatar?

While football is perceived as being the country’s most popular sport, it probably won’t be of interest to all workplace employees, so it is important those who have no interest in World Cup 2022 do not feel excluded.

Further, many groups, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community, may feel that it isn’t right for the tournament to be held in Qatar and for their employer to be celebrating it.

Therefore, workplace events connected with this World Cup should be optional. Employees shouldn’t be disadvantaged or derided in any way if they do not want to take part.

How do I stop any potential rivalry?

Not all staff members who are football fans may support England and workplace banter may develop between staff members who support opposing nations, particularly as Wales has qualified for the tournament and will also be facing England in group B.

It is essential that this does not cross the line into racial discrimination – based on nationality – and employers should take steps to keep this under review and make it clear that any discriminatory behaviour will result in disciplinary action.

I’m concerned about the behaviour of workers outside of work (in pubs, fan parks, etc.). What can I do?

Again, it is advisable for employers to remind their workers of their responsibilities to behave themselves outside of work whilst watching football. Anti-social behaviour from an employee during the tournament could potentially damage an employer’s reputation and have a negative impact on its business.

Businesses can take disciplinary action against their employees for misconduct outside of work and this is potentially a fair reason for them being dismissed.

How can my business embrace World Cup 2022 and what are the benefits?

Don’t forget that the World Cup can also offer the opportunity for employees to engage and bond with one another and businesses may want to take advantage of this by allowing their employees to keep up to date with what is happening at the tournament. You could, for example, screen some matches in a break room or arrange themed (virtual) social events or run a sweepstake.

Employers who successfully use World Cup 2022 as an employee engagement tool are more likely to benefit from the positive impact on morale. It can be an opportunity to engage and include staff which, if utilised correctly, can discourage employees from any unauthorised absences or excessive internet or social media use.

However, it is worth a business checking their policies and procedures to ensure that potential challenges are covered, and that employees’ attention has been drawn to the relevant sections.