“Previous surveys have suggested that increased absence levels are common during major football tournaments – either due to employees watching the match or as the result of a late night or hangover. Organisations need to start thinking now about how the World Cup in June will affect their business. They should be communicating with staff in terms of requests for holidays during that period and specify how they will be treated; for example, will it be a first-come first-served basis? Employers should also highlight that attendance will be closely monitored during that period and sickness and absence will be investigated if they coincide with matches. Staff should also be reminded that being at work whilst under the influence of alcohol would be a disciplinary matter – just to pre-empt any lunchtime match events in the nearby pub or extreme hangovers.”

“In terms of practical solutions, employers could think about offering flexible hours – many of the matches will kick off at 5pm so allowing staff to leave work an hour earlier will enable them to see the games. Arrangements could be agreed to start earlier the next day or make up time another day. Likewise, if there is an evening match, the policy on flexibility could be used to allow employees to start work an hour later, which may encourage attendance where there has been excessive drinking. To minimise disruption, some employers are actually planning to screen the matches at the workplace whilst others are offering unpaid time off.”

P3 People Management is a leading Human Resources outsourcing consultancy based in Manchester which works with a range of businesses across the North West.

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