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On the game

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Olympic Impact On the game We are just months away from the biggest sporting tournament that the UK has ever hosted and there’s a good chance the Olympics will impact on your business in some way.

Clive Day, an associate in the employment team of national law firm Gateley, suggests you start preparing now...

The last Olympic Games to be held in the UK took place some 64 years ago, in a post-war environment that was a world away from the spectacular events of recent times. Every person in the UK will be affected by the Games whether they are sport enthusiasts or not, and whether they are in London or elsewhere.

There will be constant coverage on the television, radio and Internet and the Games will be the topic of conversation just about everywhere you go. How the Games will impact on business, however, needs careful consideration. The most obviously affected businesses will be those in London and key venues (such as Windsor and Weymouth). Prior to the crucial two weeks from July 27th to August 12th, all employers will need to take steps to ensure that ‘Games frenzy’ doesn’t bring their business to a standstill.

Preparation is the key. Getting ready in advance will mean that potential employment problems can be avoided. The first thing on the list should be to formulate a work policy for the Olympics. The whole workforce should know what is expected of them in order to avoid any confusion and potential disputes.

Three key areas in any policy will be dealing with travel issues, taking time off during the Games and the practical impact on business operations.

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TRAVEL ISSUES - LONDON AND THE KEY VENUES

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A big concern for business is that due to the number of people the Games will attract, there will be significant travel disruption during normal commuting hours. This in turn may cause employees to be late or absent in the London area. Being prepared means understanding how your staff get to work and using the information to plan ahead and minimise disruption to your workplace. This could enable you to ease the problems your staff may face by suggesting the use of less busy routes or different types of transport, or by allowing them to travel at less busy times.

There is a great deal of information about travel options available online from the Department for Transport, the Greater London Authority Games webpages and the London Councils webpages. There are also area-specific workshop presentations and drop-in sessions.

These are being held to provide employers with the opportunity to discuss with experts the detail of the transport impact on their local area.

Looking at shared or different modes of transport and offering support may create benefits to all which outlive the Games themselves. For example, car sharing is one option that you may wish to promote during the Games. This will help reduce congestion generally and it can encourage employees to make extra efforts to attend work. Co-ordinating arrangements between workers who live in the same area and who will be using the same routes can pay dividends and one practical means to encourage this is to provide preferential parking to those taking part.

If car journeys can be avoided, all the better. Many people live within cycling or walking distance of their workplace, but do not usually cycle or walk.

Encouraging staff to cycle during the Games, even if only on certain days, is likely to make their journey easier and quicker. Staff who already cycle can provide support and act as ambassadors, for example, as a ‘cycle buddy’ (accompanying people the first time they ride).

One practical step you could take to help encourage cycle use would be to provide cycle parking, especially as free cycle stands are available from Transport for London.

Of course, the most severe transport problems will be

encountered at peaks times, so you may want to consider introducing flexible working patterns during the Games. There are several formats that could be adopted and affected businesses will have to assess which works best. Options might include allowing staff to work compressed weeks, for example, working five ‘normal’ days compressed into four longer days, or businesses could introduce staggered start and finish times.

Where it is possible you might allow employees to work from home. Any policy would have to indicate who might apply and how the work will be carried out.

This might require reviewing communication facilities, such as telephone, internet access, and putting arrangements for support in place.

Whichever options suit your business

On the game

26/3/12

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that no payment is due in the first three days of absence).

IMPACT ON THE BUSINESS

best they will need advance planning to put into operation.

MANAGING ABSENCES

For those in London, and at key venues, it may be harder for customers and visitors to get to your premises at usual times. As part of the advance planning, you may wish to assess if there are alternative ways to ensure your customers and visitors continue to receive a good service.

For example, parking and road restrictions around, and on routes to, Games venues may affect deliveries and collections at your premises. At certain times deliveries may not be possible at all. Service industries are likely to use phone and video-conferencing more heavily during the affected periods. Changing working hours or a temporary relocation of staff may also be options.

In some limited sectors, however, businesses may find it difficult to function at all. For example, much non-essential transport maintenance will be suspended over the summer, affecting contractors on these projects.

If it is the case that you believe your business cannot operate effectively for a short period during the Games, you may wish to consider a ‘shutdown’ period. Probably the simplest way to do this is to give notice to staff that you require them to take their annual leave during this period. You should follow any annual leave policy and procedure. In the absence of such a policy, there is a statutory right to give workers notice to take leave. The notice has to be at least twice as long as the period of leave you require them to take.

A more general suspension of work and pay would, however, require careful consideration. If a suspension of work cannot be achieved through annual holiday alone, then the situation becomes a lot more complex.

If employees’ contractual terms allow for ‘lay off’ this would mean you are entitled to simply not provide any work for the employee, subject to certain minimum payments, for a specific period. On the other hand if the contract does not allow for such lay offs, there is a risk that employees would still need to be paid during the period of imposed absence.

USEFUL LINKS FOR EMPLOYERS • http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/businessnetwork/travel-advice-for-business/ • www.tfl.gov.uk/2012

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A key point in any policy will be whether there are any special arrangements for taking holidays during the Games. Generally it should be made clear that if a member of staff wishes to take time off to watch specific events, they will be required to follow the same procedure as if they wished to take a day’s holiday for any other reason.

Special rules may, however, be required where it is expected that many employees will want the same period of time off. Clearly there will be a limit on the number of employees who can be allowed to take time off at the same time. Your policy might specify the maximum number of employees entitled to take leave, whether it will be granted on the basis of ‘first-come-first- served’, whether priority will be given to certain employees or whether there will be, like ticket allocation, some specific type of application and drawing of lots.

There are potential legal issues to guard against in allocating leave. In allowing some requests for holiday but refusing others you will have to be wary of claims of unlawful discrimination. It should be clear that no preference is given to some employees over others for any reason connected to a protected characteristic. It would, for example, be unlawful discrimination to give preference to men over women in relation to requests for time off to see certain sporting events like football.

Where it is likely that there will be excessive demand for holiday, limits could be placed on the total number of days each employee could take. In a situation where five employees all want to take two weeks holiday, for example, a possible solution will be to allow all five a maximum of two days leave whilst the Games are taking place. Alternatively, employers may decide to take a hard line and refuse to allow employees to take holidays during the event. Whilst

refusing leave during the whole period may not breach any legal enactment it may nevertheless have a significant impact upon the morale and productivity of staff. It should be taken into account that some employees may have already committed to paying substantial sums of money in relation to much sought-after tickets.

In order to reduce the number of employee requests for time off (and to potentially raise morale in the workplace) one option to consider is to make televised coverage of the Games available at work.

There are obvious feel good benefits to everyone. In addition to potentially reducing the number of holiday requests, this inclusive approach to the Games may also help to overcome employee reservations about the other restrictions or demands that employers impose relating to the Games. Obviously it may not be practicable for all employees to be given this option, and where it is allowed, this would normally be on the understanding that employees would be expected to complete their full duties by making up any lost time.

Absenteeism where the employee has not booked holiday may lead to disciplinary action. There may also be suspicious claims of sudden illness to deal with.

Surveys have suggested that during past major sporting events there has been a greater tendency for employees to phone in sick. You may wish to advise employees that during the Games all sickness absences will be subject to monitoring and they may be required to produce documented evidence to substantiate the reason for their absence. It is important to remember in this context that employees need to be informed how sickness absence will be treated beforehand.

Where there is a suspicion during the Games that an employee is not genuinely ill, it may be possible to withhold any enhanced (contractual) sick pay. An employer’s ability to do this will depend on the wording in the employment contract and whether payment is described as discretionary or contractual. If it is contractual, then a failure to pay could lead to claims. Employers must, in any event, comply with their duties under the more limited statutory sick pay scheme although there are normally waiting days (so

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