Let sports fans work flexibly to watch the Olympics, says TUC

Ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympics opening ceremony tonight, the TUC is today (Friday) publishing guidance for bosses whose staff want to watch events during their normal working hours.

The TUC suggests that bosses:

• talk to their employees in advance about arrangements for events they want to see;
• arrange for their staff to watch the key events from the Olympics somewhere on the company’s premises, if appropriate;
• allow staff to work from home on days when key events are happening;
• 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.

The TUC believes that flexible working has real benefits for businesses and their workforces. Many workplaces operate flexitime, letting staff come in early and go home early, or to get into work late and leave the office later.

Olympic events start at various times, with some highlights likely to include British competitors happening in standard office hours,  like the rowing finals stating at 12.30pm, equestrian finals at 2pm and the men’s doubles tennis final at 4pm.

But it will not just be sports 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 their national sporting heroes take part in the Olympics.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Millions of workers around the UK will want to see Team GB in action at the Rio Olympics.

“To avoid any problems bosses should talk to their staff and try and let people who want to watch important events in the Olympics do so, either at work or at home – and then put their hours in afterwards.

“Allowing people more flexibility in how and when they do their work makes them happier, cutting absenteeism and raising productivity. Good luck Team GB!”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• The TUC guidance is available at worksmart.org.uk/work-rights/discipline-and-policies/watching-sport-work
• Event times: There are two time zones in Brazil, and Rio is 4-5 hours behind UK time. While some of the most high profile action – like the athletics finals – will happen in the middle of the night, events which could have GB interest, such as rowing, tennis, swimming, triathlon and equestrian finals, will happen mid-afternoon. The Telegraph website lists the events most likely to feature GB sporting heroes here: www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2016/04/14/rio-2016-olympics-schedule-day-by-day-highlights-and-events-guid - The BBC also has an interactive schedule here: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-2016/schedule/2016-08-05
• Key events taking place during standard weekday working hours include:
  2pm, Tuesday 9 August: Equestrian team evening final
  12.30pm, Wednesday 10 August – Rowing finals
  12.30pm, Thursday 11 August – Rowing finals
  12.30pm, Friday 12 August – Rowing finals
  4pm, Friday 12 August – Men’s tennis doubles final
  2pm, Wednesday 17 August – Equestrian team jumping final
  3pm, Thursday 18 August – Men’s triathlon
  2pm, Friday 19 August – Equestrian individual jumping final
• 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.