Glued to the tube

Let’s face it; we’ve never had it so good! Trinidad and Tobago has qualified for the first time ever to compete on the big stage in Germany, World Cup 2006. In the next few hours not only the world but also TT is expected to be a buzz of delirious excitement and celebration over our country’s achievement.

Employers be realistic, we’ll all be glued to the “tube” for a month for live games and repeats at night. We’ll even be watching games TT is not actually participating in, such as the Brazil, Argentina, France and Germany matches. We see you cringing as you stress about what’s going to happen to your sales, your customer service and the delivery of your goods and services. You should expect an unusual number of requests for sick leave and vacation leave.

A UK report suggests that absenteeism could rise to 25 percent during the World Cup costing them ?98,788,923 per day. If England get through to the later stages of the tournament this could rise to 40%. Though we do not have stats for Trinidad and Tobago we know that the costs will also be significant.

In the World Cup first round TT plays Sweden on June 10, 2006 at midday. On June 15, 2006 again at midday, we play against England. Then on June 20, 2006, the Soca Warriors will take on Paraguay at 3 pm. What is the boss left to do?

Be practical and get a big screen TV at work on those days at those times. Make sure you announce it well in advance for several reasons:

(1) Your employees will love you and you can milk the boost of employee morale in the build up to the World Cup

(2) Employees would not feel the need to call in sudden ‘sick’ leave

(3) If the government declares the days holidays at the last minute, you would have already scored points with your employees because it’s the thought that counts. While the screens are being put up in meeting rooms, employees can come to work and catch the action.

At the same time, colleagues who are not interested in football should be offered quiet World Cup-free zones. If appropriate for your organisation, you might want to allow employees to bring in radios to listen to the games.

Remind employees of your vacation leave request procedure, as soon as possible. Don’t wait for the week before the World Cup. “Take upfront before upfront takes you.” Point out that requests will be dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis. In most cases it’s impractical for a business to allow a large proportion of the workforce to take annual leave at one time, so employers may refuse annual leave requests on the grounds of the business’ needs.

Bear in mind that, while employees do have statutory and often contractual rights to paid leave, employers and employees can agree when and how leave is to be taken. By encouraging staff to be open about their plans, you can take control of the situation and ensure that none of your employees are left in the lurch when the whistle blows.

You could consider introducing a policy of flexible working, as some European companies did during the last World Cup. This allows employees, with permission, to come to work late and stay back late; or come extra early and get the job done before departing to watch the game. However, think about how this is going to be monitored, be consistent in your application of flexi-working. Staff on duty during the tournament should also be able to request shift swaps, extended breaks and occasional days off to watch matches.

Attendance at work while still under the influence of alcohol is never permissible. It is a disciplinary offence under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and it would do no harm to remind employees of that fact.

Of course, you also need to set the example in this area. Don’t think that because you’re the boss you can go out for lunch, have a few drinks and stagger back into the office singing, “Wo-uu, wo, wow, I’m a soooooca warrior!” This would surely serve to demoralise your workers and discourage them from working hard for you.

Employee-planned ‘sick’ leave requests can be reduced if you simply tell workers that sick leave will be closely monitored during the World Cup period. The difficulty with this is that there may be genuine sickness absences in June. Employers must be careful to avoid making gender-based assumptions about the credibility of leave requests or genuine reasons for absence. Such mistakes could be costly.

The biggest mistake you could make though is to ignore the World Cup and think you’re going to whip your staff into working. They might be present physically but their morale will be out of the window. You may even see the bare minimum effect, where employees do only what you ask and nothing more. The World Cup is only hours away and as the old adage says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

HRMATT is the Professional body that represents HR Practitioners and Professionals in Trinidad and Tobago. Membership is open to those in and out of the field, nationals and non-nationals. The Secretariat can be contacted at 624-9606 or visit our website at www.hrmatt.com.