| Coping with World Cup fever |
| Friday, 07 May 2010 04:38 |
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It is a well known fact that sickness levels rise during key sporting events ...
It is a well known fact that sickness levels rise during key sporting events ... With the World Cup and Wimbledon fast approaching, SME’s would be well advised to consider whether they might see a rise in the number of staff taking sick days in order to watch key matches. It is a well known fact that sickness levels rise during key sporting events, either because employees wish to take time off work to watch the match itself, or because they are recovering from the night before. Whilst tackling sickness absence is a year round problem for SME’s, the sharp increase on certain days during big sporting events can mean that businesses suffer from last minute staff shortages.What do you do if you suspect that an employer has taken a ‘sickie’, rather than genuinely being ill? Sometimes an employer might have strong evidence to suggest that the illness was not genuine, if, for example, the employee has made comments on Facebook, or they have been spotted by colleagues in a pub showing the match or even on TV sitting in the crowd at Wimbledon! However, without such evidence, the employer has little choice but to let the issue go, which can be costly to SME’s that are less able to absorb the absence than larger employers. By encouraging employees to be up front about the time they wish to take off to watch their favourite player or match, employers could save a lot of headache and lost revenue. Larger organisations might be able to organise a ‘shift swap’ scheme, whereby employees have the ability to re-arrange their shifts around different games provided they can find the appropriate cover for their shift. An alternative would be for the employer to provide a TV in the staff room and allow the employees to take a short break to watch a match; this might be more suitable for smaller organisations. Allowing employees the flexibility to take short periods of time off of work to watch the matches whilst remaining in the workplace may prevent ‘sickies’ being taken and could benefit the SME overall. Employees would be told that they would need to make up the time lost either by working through lunch or at the beginning or end of the working day. These examples highlight the general work/life balance debate, and whether employers can afford to be more flexible about working hours at times other than the World Cup and Wimbledon. Many SME’s successfully manage to promote work/life balance schemes, either by extending the statutory flexible working scheme to non-carers, or by allowing staff to take unpaid sabbaticals, or allowing a days leave for parents wishing to accompany their children on their first day at school. Some employers see the benefit in allowing staff to be more flexible as it encourages a happy workforce and avoids absences being wrongly recorded as sickness. The leave can either be unpaid, or the employer can insist that the employee makes up the time taken off at another time. Problems with offering time off for sporting events, or other work/life balance events, may occur when an employer takes an uneven approach as to which events it will support, and which employees it will allow to take time off. For example, an employee who is not interested in any sporting event may feel that they are being left to cover for their colleagues that wish to take time off, or go to the staff room, and that their preference would be to take time off for a different sort of event that isn’t covered by the employer’s scheme. A problem that an employer might face with offering a shift swap or time off scheme is that they may be overwhelmed with requests to take time off on a particular day, leaving them with no staff left to provide the service, or a difficult choice as to which employees should be selected. If the employer starts selecting which employees can take time off, then they need to be mindful of claims of favouritism, discrimination, or general unfairness. On balance, despite the potential discrimination issues, the overwhelming benefit that an SME can gain from offering such schemes are that they have a happy and more dedicated workforce. It is far better for employers to be proactive in asking staff about their intentions during the World Cup and events such as Wimbledon than leaving it to chance and facing a large number of phone calls on the morning of a key match with employees calling in sick. Amy Richardson is a Solicitor specialising in employment law at Adams & Remers LLP. She can be reached by email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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