Member Article

Your employment policies - fit for Olympics?

The Olympics kick off this week and with it come some employment issues that you need to consider. Hopefully you already have everything in hand – but with such a big event happening there are bound to be things you haven’t predicted! So what can you do now to make sure that you are able to deal with any employee issues that might arise.

According to Amanda Trewhella, Employment Solicitor at Fisher Meredith LLP there are six key areas to consider;

Annual Leave

With last minute tickets available, and fact that many people don’t plan ahead, consider how you will deal with multiple annual leave requests. Will you grant them on a first come, first served basis or will you hold a ballot system? If you give priority to those with Games tickets and Games volunteers, then consider giving other staff priority at another time, e.g. Christmas.

Unauthorised Absence

Many employers find that unauthorised absences increase during large sporting events, and the Olympics will be no different (and possibly much worse). In order to keep this to a minimum, remind staff of your sickness absence policy. Inform all your employees that absence will be monitored more closely during the Games, and that disciplinary action will be taken where necessary.

Travel Disruption

Many people’s journeys will be affected during the Games – and the commuter hours are likely to be the worst affected, so encourage staff to check the following websites to see if they need to make alternative arrangements, change their route or allow extra time.

www.getaheadofthegames.com

www.tfl.gov.uk

www.london2012.com

Flexible Working or Remote Working

In order to deal with travel problems and maintain productivity it is worth considering offering employees the opportunity to work flexible hours, or to work remotely during the Games. This may not always be possible, but building in flexibility is advisable and allows you to respond to employment issues as they appear.

Watching the Games

The Olympics don’t often come to the UK– and let’s face it, this is a big and very exciting time for the country. So to keep your workforce happy during the Games it’s worth considering showing some of the major events on TV. If so, ensure that you have a TV licence. Alternatively, you could allow employees to watch events over the Internet at agreed times. However, consider whether your IT systems will cope with the increased demand on your bandwidth. Also if you plan to increase your monitoring of IT systems, ensure that you inform all staff of this in advance.

Discrimination

Finally, to avoid discrimination claims, appropriately deal with any nationality based ‘banter’ around the workplace. Also ensure that you deal with all employees consistently. For example don’t just show events which include British competitors.

With some forward planning and clear employment policies the Olympic period can be managed efficiently and can also have a positive effect on employee morale.

Fisher Meredith are a full service law firm covering a wide range of commercial legal services including Company and Commercial Law, Employment law, Dispute Resolution, Business Immigration and Intellectual Property law together with a broad range of consumer legal services including Family Law, Conveyancing, Wills, Probate and Trust Law, Court of Protection and Community Care Law, Criminal & Fraud, Education and Human Rights. For more information : www.fishermeredith.co.uk / 020 7091 2700.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Michael Peterson .