Managing workplace issues during the 2025 summer of sport: A guide for employers

Most employers will want to support a positive, inclusive workplace culture therefore ultimately, demonstrating some general flexibility in order to accommodate people’s desire to engage with the may well end up being the lesser of two evils and go some way to avoiding issues such as sick leave, staff attending work under the influence of alcohol and detrimental impact on productivity. Employers should make clear what behaviours are acceptable and expect that staff will follow the rules.

Consideration should also be given to those who are working from home or who request to work from home on a match day. Should employers communicate differently with these people? Should employers monitor them if they don’t ordinarily? In circumstances where working from home provides a greater deal of flexibility, employers might want to take the view that so long as the work gets done, then they’d be happy to agree for staff to perhaps take longer lunch breaks, start earlier/finish later, make up time another day etc.

Suspicious sickness absence, misconduct inside and outside of work, failure to follow normal policies (i.e., equality and diversity, sickness reporting/holiday requests) are all potentially issues employers will need to be alive to.

Employers shouldn’t assume and/or jump to the conclusion that just because an employee is sick on (or the day after) match day, it’s an automatic conduct issue. Employers will still need to ensure that they carry out a reasonable investigation and bear in mind that sickness absence doesn’t necessarily mean an employee can’t leave home.

The obvious ones here are skipping work (AWOL), turning up for work drunk, substance misuse, discriminatory behaviour and internet/computer misuse. Employers can be vicariously liable for the actions of their employees whilst they are in work, therefore employers should make clear what behaviours are acceptable and what are not and what the likely consequences are if there is unacceptable conduct.

People can of course be very passionate about supporting their home team (often by seeking to put down or criticise the opposition), however the fact that lines are essentially drawn on grounds of nationality means that there is clear scope for a risk of people overstepping the line with regard to showing respect for other races and cultures.

Similarly, as women’s sporting events take centre stage this summer, employers should be alert to sexist attitudes or dismissive commentary that undermine female athletes or trivialise women’s sport.

Healthy banter at work can be beneficial to the business, helping build team spirit and morale however employers are well advised to remind employees to not have jokes based on nationality/supporting certain teams/players and reinforce that there is a clear expectation that all others are treated with dignity and respect and that discriminatory behaviour (in particular on grounds of race, sex, religion and sexual orientation) will not be tolerated even if intended in good humour.

Manage requests for annual leave on a ‘first come first served’ basis and possibly even subject to limits in teams/departments, however, employers should be mindful about how these requests are prioritised – not all requests will be in connection with sporting events.

Violence between employees, inappropriate posts on social media, such as racist or sexist comments, are potential issues. This year, given the prominence of women’s sport, sexist or dismissive remarks about female athletes or events may surface, whether intended as humour or not.

Employers should be clear about the boundaries and reiterate the expected standards of language and behaviour (including giving consideration to drawing people’s attention to any equality/diversity and/or social media policies in place).

Employers might want to be mindful of match times and make clear whether having an alcoholic drink during lunch time is prohibited. If employees are intoxicated at work, it will normally be appropriate to suspend them immediately and then investigate before taking any disciplinary action.

It may be worth emphasising to staff that if employees fail to follow the correct procedures, they may not be paid and may be subject to disciplinary action.

Employers should be consistent in their approach to handling issues during sporting events, especially around the approach to requests for leave and/or to work from home (ensuring that any flexibility offered to supporters is extended to supporters of other countries).

Employers should take care over offering flex and bear in mind that this can’t just be for those supporting England or Wales.

Technically, sweepstakes are one of eight types of lotteries that are regulated by the Gambling Commission therefore it might be advisable to devise a policy on whether gambling is prohibited and/or making clear what the maximum financial contribution is on workplace gambling.