With Euro 2016 underway businesses need to brace themselves and be prepared for employees taking sickies to watch matches or failing to turn up for work because they over indulged the night before.

Research conducted by HR Consultancy, ELAS[i] in an anonymous social media poll found that 40 per cent of respondents would pull a sickie to watch their team in the Euro 2016. With England playing Wales this week (16th June) with a 2pm kick-off, absenteeism is expected to spike this Thursday. ELAS also points out that this could potentially cost the UK economy over £269 million in lost work productivity[ii].  

Unauthorised leave always happens during major sporting tournaments and HR managers should anticipate that during Euro 2016 they will probably see more people calling in sick. Whilst short term absence is hard to manage and can have a big impact on productivity, there are steps businesses can take to ensure there isn’t too much disruption over the next few weeks.  

One solution is to allow people to watch games in the office if they are on during the day or allow people to leave a little earlier or come in later for other matches. Being flexible during this time can reduce absenteeism and build staff morale and motivation. However, companies need to be clear on their absenteeism policy and make sure people understand the rules – and make sure they have the right TV and other licences in place.   Here are some other tips for managing absence during Euro 2016:

1. Keep an eye on sporting fixtures, even if you aren’t a fan yourself.  Make sure that you are prepared for possible sickies in advance. It’s harder to get temporary cover during major sporting events or the day after a bank holiday, so plan in advance based on previous experience. 

2. Fair play is important in sport – it also extends to fair handling of leave requests.  Decide ahead how you will handle multiple requests for staff holiday, especially during sporting tournaments – if you can’t authorise all of them, could you compromise and let people watch the fixtures at work instead?

3. To stop absenteeism, make staff aware of your policy on sickness absence and enforce it equally throughout your organisation.  More than half of employed adults believe their work performance is negatively impacted when attendance policies are not fairly enforced throughout an organisation, so make sure your rules treat management and staff equally.

4. Educate your staff.  Staff who take sick days to ‘watch the match’ don’t realise that short term absence has a big impact on the company’s bottom line and is more disruptive to the business than long term sickness.  Raising awareness can encourage them to book planned annual leave days rather than faking a ‘sickie’. 

5. Always use return to work forms and interviews.  Sporting absenteeism seems to have regular offenders – by having to complete a return to work self-certification form, or experiencing a return to work interview it’s less likely to be brushed under the carpet.  Inaction sets an example to the rest of your workforce, so if your reports spot a trend, act on it.

6.  Consider your systems in advance – spreadsheets and paper forms are less than ideal for managing both staff holiday and sickness absence, especially if more than one person is able to authorise leave.   Absence management software is designed for purpose, prevents leave clashes at line manager level and usually saves more than it costs – it’s also visibly fair.

 7. Use sporting events to promote teamwork, engagement and motivation at work. Ways to do this include themed days at work, showing matches to encourage attendance and having a sweep stake.

Allowing staff a little bit of fun and flexibility during Euro 2016 can work as long as everyone understands the rules and knows the procedures for being absent. Businesses that can use Euro 2016 for team building events and engaging with staff will reap the rewards of fewer people being off sick and ensure any loss of productivity is kept to a minimum over the next few weeks.

[i] http://hrnews.co.uk/poll-shows-40-uk-employees-pull-sickie-watch-euro2016-matches/

[ii] http://hrnews.co.uk/poll-shows-40-uk-employees-pull-sickie-watch-euro2016-matches/