Let football fans work flexibly to watch Euro 2016, says TUC

As Euro 2016 enters its first full week, the TUC is today (Monday) publishing new guidance for bosses whose staff want to watch games during their normal working hours.

The TUC suggests that bosses:

·    talk to their employees in advance about arrangements for key games;

·    arrange for their staff to watch the game somewhere on the company’s premises, if appropriate;

·    allow staff to work from home;

·    allow staff to work flexibly and to come in early or later to finish their shifts;

·    be as flexible as possible with annual leave requests.

Flexible working has real benefits for businesses and their workforces, says the TUC. Many workplaces already operate a system of flexitime, allowing staff to come in early and go home early, or to get into work late and leave the office later.

Televised games kick off at various times, with some matches (like England vs. Wales) starting at 2pm UK time. But it will not just be football fans who work daytime and weekday hours who are affected. More than one in five UK employees (5.8 million people) work evenings and weekends, and many will want to watch the matches too.

TUC General Secretary, and England and Arsenal supporter, Frances O’Grady said: “Millions of workers around the UK will want to cheer on their national teams in Euro 2016.

“To avoid any problems bosses should talk to their staff and try and let people who want to watch the games do so, either at work or at home – and then claim back their time afterwards.

“Whether it’s about major sporting events like Euro 2016 or picking up the kids from school, allowing people more flexibility in how and when they do their work makes them happier. It cuts absenteeism and raises productivity.

“So come on England!”

Wales TUC General Secretary​ Martin Mansfield, who will be cheering on Wales against England on Thursday, said: “Tournaments like Euro 2016 can be a great chance to build camaraderie at work, with working people running sweepstakes and spending time together. It’s important employers do not score an own goal by acting like killjoys.

“Cymru am byth!”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The TUC guidance is available at worksmart.org.uk/work-rights/discipline-and-policies/watching-sport-work

- Euro 2016 championships: Fixture details are available at www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/matches/#md/1 Euro 2016 started on Friday (10 June) and runs until Sunday 10 July. A number of home nations matches will take place during normal working hours – for example, England and Wales will play one another at 2pm UK time on Thursday 16 June, while Northern Ireland take on Poland at 5pm UK time on the same day. And UK-based workers of different nationalities may also want to work flexibly to follow their home teams through the tournament.

Viewing figures for Euro 2016 are likely to be very large. During the 2012 event, an average of 13 million UK viewers watched every game in the tournament (Source: UEFA www.novaexpressao.pt/userfiles/file/Columbus%20Media%20International_Uefa%20Euro%202012.pdf), while England’s games drew 16 to 23 million viewers (Source: BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18577671).

- Flexible working: Common types of flexible working include: part-time – working less than the normal hours; flexitime – choosing when to work (with a core period during when you have to work); annualised hours (when your hours are worked out over a year); compressed hours – working your agreed hours over fewer days; staggered hours (different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace); job sharing – sharing a job designed for one person with someone else; or homeworking – working from home.

- The right to request flexible working: Anyone can ask their employer for flexible working patterns and many employers consider such requests sympathetically. Legally, the right to request flexible working is available to employees who have 26 weeks’ continuous service with an employer at the date that the application is made, and have not made a previous application under the new rights during the previous 12 months. Only employees qualify – not agency workers, and not those in the armed forces. Since 30 June 2014, you no longer need to have caring responsibilities in order to make your request to work flexibly.

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @The_TUC and follow the TUC press team @tucnews

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Alex Rossiter  T: 020 7467 1285  M: 07887 572130  E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk
Tim Nichols  T: 020 7467 1388  M: 07808 761844  E: tnichols@tuc.org.uk
Michael Pidgeon  T: 020 7467 1372  M: 07717 531150  E: mpidgeon@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson (Mon to Thurs)  T: 020 7467 1337  M: 07900 910624  E: egibson@tuc.org.uk