With the 2018 World Cup soon to kick-off in Moscow, football fans will have their eye on the ball following their favourite team.
But it’s not just the players who need to warm up, as UK businesses need to tackle the tournament challenge head-on, with the potential of lost working hours due to employees staying home to watch the games and disagreements in the workplace over competing team interests.
Experts say the best approach is to revisit your policies now, before kick-off, and if there are any gaps in guidance, make sure to get them covered. Then, it’s down to reminding everyone of the importance of staying within the boundaries for any workplace discussions, and a reinforcement of company attitudes towards absenteeism and any likely issues that may arise, such as alcohol consumption or watching games during working hours.
For those with policies already in place it is worth re-visiting them to ensure they are relevant and up to date. Technology is developing quickly, and most people now have smartphones they can use to watch games. So, if previously, only company equipment use was considered in your internet policy, employers need to consider how they will deal with someone making personal use of the internet during working hours on their own equipment.