Do Employers Need a Sporting Events Policy Ahead of the World Cup?

Last updated: November 2nd, 2023

The 2018 FIFA World Cup gets underway this week. With football managers hard at work preparing their teams for success in this summer’s tournament, employers should be taking the necessary precautions to manage their own staff and ensure provisions are in place to keep productivity levels high.

Some employers will choose to create a specific sporting events policy to manage staff during the World Cup. These policies will typically outline an organisation’s stance on a variety of issues including flexible working, internet usage, and general workplace conduct for the duration of the tournament.

Having a specific sporting events policy in place will help inform staff of any amendments to accepted working practices during the World Cup and provide employers with the framework required to discipline those who fail to comply. An added benefit of creating such a policy is that it can also be applied to similar events such as the Olympic games.

With that being said simply having a policy in place is just the first step and for any policy to be truly successful it must be communicated effectively.

Therefore, those who do choose to create a new policy ahead of the World Cup should ensure a copy of this is provided to staff well in advance, allowing them sufficient opportunity to review its contents and consider the practical implications prior to the tournaments kick- off.

Effective communication is equally important for those who choose to rely on pre-existing workplace policies to guide employee behaviour.

In these instances, employers should consider holding informal meetings with the wider workforce to reiterate what is expected of them during the tournament, this will also give them an opportunity to announce if there will be any relaxing of existing policies to better accommodate employees during the World Cup.

Employers must also take care to ensure that the guidelines inscribed in workplace policies are enforced in a fair and consistent manner.

Sporting events policies will commonly cover rules surrounding annual leave as employees may want time off to watch their favourite team’s matches, and normal procedures should apply, for example, being granted on a first come first serves basis.

Additionally, staff may be permitted to watch certain matches in between shifts and during designated break periods and line managers must be vigilant to ensure they do not take advantage of this privilege.

It is clear that implementing a sporting events policy will be useful in maintaining workplace productivity ahead of the World Cup, particularly for organisations who have struggled to manage employees’ performance in the past.

However, as well as simply creating the policy employers must adequately inform staff of any new policies and make concerted efforts to enforce the policy’s guidelines in a consistent manner.

If you have any questions regarding the World Cup and how this may impact your workplace, please our expert advice line on +353(0)1 886 0350

Book a call with a consultant

Complete the form below and a consultant will call you as soon as possible.

Book a call with a consultant

Complete the form below and a consultant will call you as soon as possible.

Latest Resources

St Patrick’s Day: Have you prepared for absenteeism?

Published: March 20th 2024 Following national celebrations and public holidays like St Patrick’s day, you could find yourself down several staff members. And – as […]

What Employees Are Entitled to a Public Holiday Benefit & How Are Benefits Calculated?

public holiday
Published: March 20th 2024 From Easter Monday to St Patrick’s Day, Ireland gets ten public holidays and, with them, public holiday benefits. But what if […]

What happens when workplace romances go wrong

workplace romances gone wrong
First published: February 14th 2024 Last updated: February 14th 2024 Love makes the world go round, or so they say. But what effect does love […]

Olga Shevchenko

Director/Advocate, Immigration Advice Bureau

Olga Shevchenko specialises in immigration advocacy and consultancy, in particular, employment permit, visas, family reunification, citizenship, etc, for those seeking to visit, reside or invest in Ireland.

Olga provides extensive information, knowledge, and support to her clients, enabling access to positive solutions for people struggling to handle the immigration law.

Minister Neale Richmond

Minister of State, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Neale Richmond TD was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Employment Affairs and Retail Business and the Department of Social Protection in January 2023.

Much of his work at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is with businesses, workers, their representative bodies and the State Agencies to ensure that the economic recovery and growth extends to all parts of the country. He works closely with the SME sector, including retail, on building resilience and on the transition to the green and digital economies.

Mark Carpenter

Director of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, Sky

Mark Carpenter is Director of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs at Sky Ireland. In this role he has responsibility for External and Internal Communications, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs and the company’s ‘Bigger Picture’ (CSR) programme. He also works closely with Sky Group teams on a variety of matters, in particular our partnerships with domestic broadcasters.

Prior to working at Sky, Mark worked as a Policy Officer in Houses of the Oireachtas and as a Management Consultant at Accenture. He has a BA in History from Oxford University and a PhD in Political Science from Trinity College Dublin.

Nora Cashe

Litigation and Compliance Manager, Peninsula

Nóra studied Law in Griffith College Dublin and qualified as a Barrister in 2008, practising in the area of Criminal law. She is also member of the Irish Employment Law Association.

Nora has extensive experience representing clients at Employment Tribunal hearings, Conciliation / Mediation meetings before both the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. 

Nóra is a member of the Irish Employment Law Association and engages with the WRC Adjudication Service as part of their stakeholder engagement forum.

Deiric McCann

Managing Director, Genos International Europe

Deiric McCann leads Genos International Europe – The EU division of a world-leading provider of emotional intelligence solutions. 

With over two decades experience at the highest levels of management, Deiric supports clients to develop the resilience, emotional intelligence, psychological safety and engagements of their employees.

Rhiannon Coyne

Senior HR Consultant, Graphite HRM

Rhiannon Coyne is a Senior HR Consultant at Graphite HRM and will be providing an overview of best practice on how to deal with complaints of bullying and harassment in the workplace. 

With a number of recent updates to employment laws, Rhiannon will take a closer look at employment equality and how it is interlinked to Health & Safety and what employers can learn from recent case laws.

David Begg

Chairman, Workplace Relations Commission

David Begg was appointed Chairperson of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in January 2021.

David is also a professor at Maynooth University Institute of Social Sciences. Mr Begg’s extensive history in the trade union movement included leading the ESB Officers Association and Irish Congress of Trade Unions, stepping away from the latter in 2001 to chair international aid agency Concern.

David Begg was also previously a director of the Central Bank of Ireland between 1995 and 2010.