First published: September 4th 2023
Last updated: September 4th 2023

With Ireland heading into the Rugby World Cup as favourites, it’s a good idea to be prepared for employees who might be distracted in the coming weeks.

This major sporting event only comes around once every four years so it will be an exciting time for rugby fans who have teams in the mix.

For business owners, it’s prudent to ensure that a good run for the Irish team in the competition doesn’t serve as an excuse for employees to let their conduct and performance standards slip.

With this in mind, here are potential HR risks for business owners to be mindful of during Rugby World Cup 2023…

1. Conflicting holiday requests

During a major sporting event, you may have to manage more annual leave requests than usual from employees who want to watch the games.

This scenario can also lead to employee unrest if you can’t accept all requests for time off. You need to maintain your level of service, and this means having enough staff in work at the appropriate times.

If you have a lot of employees that want time off for the same match, you should follow your usual process for handling holiday requests.

If you operate a first come, first served approach, then ensure that you continue to apply the same rules. Continue to rely on the terms of your annual leave policy and this will help you remain fair and consistent whatever the circumstances.

2. Would flexible working arrangements work for everyone?

If employees don’t have sufficient annual leave or too many employees want time off on the same date, you could consider offering temporary flexible working arrangements.

To determine it this would be feasible in your business, you could explore the potential impact of adjusting employee start and finish times, permitting a temporary period of remote work or adjusting lunch breaks or other break times to allow staff watch the biggest games.

If you can accommodate employees with flexible working arrangements that allow them to fit work in around each match, you could reduce the number of requests for time off.

3. Sickies or unauthorised absences

While you have a good level of control over holiday absences, it might be harder to deal with sickness or unauthorised absences.

If there’s a big match that employees really don’t want to miss, you may find yourself having to deal with problematic absenteeism.

First off, remind staff that their duty to show up for work continues as normal during the Rugby World Cup.

If you refuse a holiday request, and they subsequently fail to show for work on the date they requested with no valid reason, you may need to consider taking disciplinary action.

Similarly, if an employee calls in sick on a day they were refused a holiday request, you may need to investigate if their illness was genuine. You must keep an open mind however as your employees have a right to take sick leave and disciplinary action should only proceed if an investigation warrants it.

You can help deter absences by making sure you have a robust sickness and absence policy in place.

Finally on this issue, a robust sickness absence procedure can help hold employees to account for unexpected absences – of particular use in this regard are return to work interviews.

4. Employees who turn up worse for wear

If there’s a late kick off and an employee has been out late before an early start, you may need to deal with staff who are not in a fit state to work.

Again, it’s wise to remind your staff that the normal standards of behaviour and performance continue to apply during the Rugby World Cup.

You might want to specify that you won’t tolerate employees showing up for work under the influence of alcohol or suffering the after-effects of alcohol from the night before.

While employees can do as they wish on their own time, if they are not in a fit state to work when they arrive onsite, it becomes a health & safety problem.

You may wish to issue a gentle reminder than any such misconduct during the Rugby World Cup will be subject to disciplinary action.

5. Productivity problems

Finally, even if employees do show for work, there is a risk that they will be distracted if there’s a match on during working hours.

If your employees are constantly checking their phones or their work devices, your business could suffer from lower productivity or lost opportunities.

Your employees should be focused on their jobs during work hours, so you need to find a way to help them remain focused on the job.

If it’s feasible, you could consider allowing employees to watch the events at work either on big screens or on their own screens. The upside from the employer’s perspective is that it helps you control the amount of time they’re distracted by the rugby.

In this scenario, you could allow your staff to watch a match and let them know if they need to make up any time lost.

Download your free sample sporting events policy

You don’t have to be the fun police during the Rugby World Cup. You just need to set boundaries.

And the best way for business owners to set boundaries is to communicate a sporting events policy to all staff. And to help you out, we’re giving you a free policy sample you can use as a template to create your own.

Simply click here to download your free sporting policy sample and set firm but fair guidelines around following the Rugby World Cup at work.