The World Cup and the Workplace: Key Considerations for Employers

In order to avoid any “HR own goals”, it is useful to be mindful of the following:

• Banter – Line managers should be aware of when “banter” moves into a territory which may cause concern, for example, if a colleague uses a derogatory term to refer to a co-worker who may be supporting their national team. Comments related to an  individual’s race or religion or belief could be discriminatory. Consider reminding staff that you are an inclusive workplace, where everyone is treated with respect, with references to where your EDI, bullying harassment , social media etc policies can be located.

• Flexibility – As the matches in this World Cup are taking place in the evenings and early mornings, there may be the potential for employees to be late for work if the match they were following didn’t finish until the early hours. Whilst some flexibility may be given in these situations, it is important to be mindful of those employees who may not follow football and have to pick up the work of those who have turned up late. This can cause resentment amongst staff and issues from workforce planning, so a carefully thought out plan as to how to ensure everyone feels included during this period will be essential. Could everyone be given some flexibility over the World Cup period, provided work demands are met? If this is not possible, then a reminder to all that whilst staff may choose to watch the football, there is still an expectation that they will be at work the following day and be ready and able to undertake their role.

• Morning after “sickness” – Now that SSP is payable from day one of sickness, employers should be alive to instances where sickness absences may not be genuine. This is where your organisations policies and procedures are essential – a return to work interview should be conducted after period of sickness absence. If an absence has not been for genuine sickness, then the RTW interview will form an integral part of any investigation should further action need to be taken.

• Requests for annual leave – There are instances where employees book flights and accommodation, prior to booking the time off work as annual leave. If there is no capacity for another individual to be off on annual leave during the World Cup period, this can create a hostile work environment, and the employee may decide to go away in any event and then face the consequences when they return. It is always useful to have a clause in your holiday policy which says that employees must not make travel bookings until approval has been given. If this is included in the holiday policy, it may be worthwhile reiterating this to staff.

• World cup sweepstakes – Whilst sweepstakes can be a great way to celebrate the World Cup and initiate some friendly rivalry in your organisation, this can exclude some individuals who may avoid gambling for personal or religious reasons. Being mindful of creating an inclusive workplace is key, with workplace events being arranged that can cater for the World Cup but also other workplace initiatives throughout the summer.

In order to ensure that your workplace is supportive, inclusive and legally complaint, training managers on how to identify and tackle potential HR issues before they escalate will be key. It is also important that staff are aware of what is and is not acceptable in the workplace, especially in consideration of the more stringent obligations which will be placed upon employers by the Employment Rights Act 2025 to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and third party harassment. Forbes can support your organisation with our suite of training offerings, which can be found here.