Skip to main content

The World Cup is On & I Have to Work?!?? Tips to Help Employers & Employees


We all know what time it is.  Every four years, for a couple weeks, the World Cup comes around.  With that, comes the inevitable crush of employees who now want to take time off work, whether it be vacation days or "sick" days to watch the matches.  For those employees who do come to work, many stream the matches on their computers, phones, tablets, etc. during the day.  Unsurprisingly, this leads to a decline in work production.  The question then becomes, what can be done to combat this?

Some employers take a hard nosed approach and block any websites that employees could access to watch or listen to the matches, ban the use of employee phones or tablets at work, etc.  However, no one wants to work for the employer who yells at employees for watching the matches (or checking scores) or makes it his/her mission to catch employees in the act.  

The key thing is for employers to set expectations up front with employees.  Employers might be better served by reminding employees at the outset that while some leeway may be allowed, there is an expectation of consistent work output that is required to be met while the employees are at work.  A few things employers could consider doing:  


  • Remind employees that any absences will be deducted from vacation or sick days.  Ensure that this is consistent though.  
  • Do not require additional verifications (beyond what is normally required) when an employee calls in sick.  For instance, if a simple phone call or e-mail is acceptable when an employee is out sick, do not now begin requiring a doctor's note, a phone call from the physician, etc. when suspecting an employee is actually at home watching the World Cup.  Remain consistent.  
  • Be flexible:  Employees who are watching a match or checking scores are temporarily distracted while the match is on.  "Gently" nudging employees to get back to their work allows employers to remind employees that while they may want to watch a match, there are expectations for what they should be doing at work. 
  • Let employees take a lunch break at a different time than normal so the employee can watch a particular match during their break.
  • If there is a particularly big match (i.e. a US game or a semi-final game), consider ordering some pizzas and allowing the employees to watch in the conference room.  This is a good opportunity to turn the event into a team building activity, since many of the employees in all likelihood would not be working during the game anyways.  Having a designated time to watch could be the employers way of reminding employees that while they can take a break while the match is on, before and after the match, they are required to be working.
  • Allow employees to start work earlier or later or even allow them to switch shifts with other workers. 


Now excuse me while I close my office door and watch a World Cup match in my office.


Special thanks to Suzanne Lucas for additional thoughts and comments on the topic:  http://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/the-world-cup-is-on-should-you-be-watching.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Utah Non-Compete Bill Falters in House

Last month, a non-compete bill sponsored by Representative Brian Greene (Republican from Pleasant Grove) & up for vote in the Utah House failed to make it through the Legislature.  The bill sought to ban enforcement of non-competes if they came after a worker was already employed, given no compensation (such as a bonus or promotion) for signing the non-compete, and laid off within six months.  However, by a 22 - 49 vote, the bill was resoundingly defeated after some business groups lobbied to kill the non-compete bill.  One group in particular, The Free Enterprise Utah coalition, argued that the Utah State Legislature should hold off on any changes to non compete laws in the state until a survey about non competes was done among Utah businesses.  Representative Greene had countered this claim and argued that a survey was not needed to show that the current non compete laws in the states allowed many businesses, including some small high tech companies i...
Post a Comment
Read more

What I've Been Reading This Week

Recently, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Commissioner, Chai Feldblum, had her re-nomination on the brink, after Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee took steps to block it .  Readers might have heard that late last week, Commissioner Feldblum's re-nomination quietly slipped away and she tweeted out a thank you to supporters and friends, acknowledging that her time at the EEOC was over.  While there has not been much in the way of a further update in regard to that ongoing saga, we wait to see how things will play out at the EEOC, now that it has lost a quorum until additional Commissioners are confirmed by the Senate. For the time being, there are other developments for readers to review this week.  In particular, I call attention to the article on managing a wage & hour audit by the Department of Labor as well as steps an employer can take to better ensure compliance with the ADA. As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week. ...
Post a Comment
Read more