Before the first whistle

In less than two weeks, the world will – apparently – be gripped by football fever.

As an HR professional, you’ve probably already started to think about how you’re going to manage things when the footy fans at your workplace get a little bit too side-tracked by 22 men kicking a ball around – and how you’re also not going to come across as the ultimate spoilsport by turning off radios, confiscating headphones and blocking all football-related websites.

But if not, it’s not too late. Helpfully, Acas has issued some guidelines about how to keep everyone on side over the four-and-a-bit weeks of the World Cup, and we’ve included the most important bits here.

But what you’re probably most interested in is, if your team was a World Cup football team, which team would it be? You weren’t thinking about that at all? Oh. Well, if we’ve piqued your interest, you won’t have to wait for too long to find out. Because next week, our fun quiz will tell you all you need to know.

That’s right, in true footballing fashion, it’s an article of two halves.

The guidelines

Basically, Acas is asking employers to plan ahead – and to keep people posted about how things are going to work during the World Cup. If people are aware of what is and isn’t expected of them, then it’s much more likely that they’re going to play ball. Here are its key points:

Annual leave: Acas says employers should be as flexible as they can here, but employees also need to be aware that they can’t automatically book time off just because there happens to be an important/exciting match on that particular day. And employers also need to extend the same flexibility to people who ask for leave during other major sporting events.

Sickness absence: It’s self-explanatory, but the guidelines warn employers to keep an eye on any unusual patterns of absence or late starts (basically, if everyone rocks up late looking slightly green the morning after an England victory or defeat, they probably have a hangover).  But Acas does suggest a solution for this…

Flexibility: If it’s planned in advance, you could come to an arrangement that allows employees to either start later or finish earlier – as long as the time is made up and it won’t affect the rest of the team or the smooth running of your organisation, of course.

Team bonding: If you have a more relaxed environment, you could show the key matches on an office TV or play them on the radio. It might be slightly distracting (are any England fans really going to be that focused on work at 5pm on Tuesday 24^th June – the kick-off time for Costa Rica v England?) But on the flip side, it’s a great way to bring people from across the organisation together, and not allowing people to watch it might leave them feeling just as distracted and also a little resentful.

Social media: There’s a very good chance that people will be following the World Cup in other ways too, especially on Twitter and Facebook, and via sports websites. The important thing here is to make sure that people know where you stand on this before it all kicks off (the World Cup, that is – we’re not suggesting your staff are going to get angry.) Acas points out that if you are monitoring internet usage, the law states that you have to make it clear to all employees that this is happening.

The pub: With so many games taking place in the evening (or the middle of the night) this is less likely to be an issue than in the Japan/South Korea World Cup where the pubs were open for breakfast, but again if you have a policy on alcohol at work, Acas says it’s worth reminding people.

So that’s it – our round-up of how to make sure your team is match-ready for the World Cup. If you’d like more detailed information, Acas has a dedicated section on its website. And don’t forget to check back next week to discover your team’s World Cup alter ego.

About the author

Sarah Cure

After starting out as a reporter on a local paper, Sarah has worked as a copywriter in recruitment marketing for most of the last 14 years – with a few stints in internal communications and PR too.