Written by Nicola Gater | 2nd July 2025
The summer of 2025 brings an exciting calendar of major sporting events including Wimbledon, the Women’s Football Euros and the Rugby World Cup, the British & Irish Lions tour, and various cricket internationals. As these events unfold you may find you have some difficult decisions to make about how to strike a balance between allowing your team to enjoy their favourite sports without affecting productivity.
Remember that encouraging and allowing people to participate in events that capture the national mood can be a real morale booster – but as many events take place during working hours, you will also want to make sure staff are aware of what’s expected of them in the best interests of your business.
Here are five quick tips from the team:
- Holiday requests
If a lot of people in your workplace want to watch a sporting event and ask for annual leave, you may not be in a position to allow all of them to take the same time off. You may decide not to allow any time off, but be aware this may lead to an increase in “sickness”. With events like the Women’s Rugby World Cup spanning August and September, and Wimbledon running for two weeks, the holiday request period extends beyond a typical tournament window.
Follow your normal rules around holiday requests, which may be “first come first served”, but wherever possible, allow as many people the time off as long as you have minimum cover in place. Going the extra mile to support your staff’s wishes show you value them and that you appreciate everyone’s need for a sensible work life balance. They are likely to be more committed in return.
- Flexible hours
If holiday can’t be agreed, or only the odd hour or two off is needed, offering flexibility around working hours can be the solution. Perhaps flexing start and finish times so people can get home in time to watch the Euros matches kicking off at 5pm, or for home workers, agreeing that they can stop work for a couple of hours during the day to watch a Lions match that kicks off at 8pm Australian time but is shown at 11am UK time, will make for a happier, more engaged team. With flexibility, they could then make up the time either on the same day or on another occasion.
The key is to be fair to all, and non-discriminatory. Make sure your policy and expectations are clearly communicated, so nobody feels aggrieved. If you have to refuse one person’s request for flexibility, perhaps because of the nature of their role, be really clear in explaining that reason, and make efforts to accommodate their requests in other ways if possible.
Remember too that good performance management, especially for hybrid workers, will focus on the work done, so ensure you measure (and celebrate) outputs and achievements rather than only thinking about how many hours the employee sits at their desk working. If they can start early and complete all their tasks for the day in the morning, they will have time to watch a match in the afternoon, and it may lead to discussions about how to improve productivity across the business at other times too.
- Access to sporting events at work
If you can’t allow some or all of your employees to take holiday or be at home for events, you could give them a way of tuning into a match during work hours, such as access to a television if they are in the office.
If you usually restrict online access and streaming, you may want to consider relaxing these rules so staff can keep up with the scores, and watch matches online perhaps during agreed break times. A radio might be a good compromise. Do check your need for any TV or broadcast licences though.
Making an event of it in the workplace and perhaps arranging an onsite screening can be a great occasion for bringing your team together and celebrating or commiserating the result as one – promoting some social fun and building better relationships at work.
Remember that different sports appeal to different people – some may be passionate about tennis during Wimbledon, others about rugby during the Lions tour or Women’s World Cup, and others about cricket during the international series. Make sure all sporting interests get equal consideration. If you can show you are doing your best to accommodate your people’s desire to follow their favourite sports during occasional big tournaments, they are more likely to work within the agreements made.
- Suspicious sick days
If someone is off sick on the day of a major sporting event , it can be tempting to leap to the conclusion that they are not being entirely honest. That is risky – it can get everyone off on the wrong footing and lead to resentment.
Staff who don’t feel they can ask for time off during a match may be tempted to call in sick, but you should always start by assuming the absence is genuine.
Therefore, the same rules as usual apply – you need to have robust policies in place for managing all absences. Ensure you carry out a Return to Work meeting for every unplanned absence, which although aim to be understanding and supportive, can be a deterrent in itself. If absences then add up to an unacceptable level, you can use your absence management process to address this formally, and this doesn’t need you to make a judgement on whether the absence was genuine or not.
However, if you have clear evidence that the employee was not unfit for work, then you can consider disciplinary action. We recommend you take advice from an HR expert before pursuing any disciplinary action.
- What about people who aren’t sports fans?
Be mindful that not all of your team are going to be avid sports fanatics – ensure you are sympathetic to their needs too. If you’ve been especially accommodating for people who are following major sporting events, bear in mind that others may have interests that they would appreciate your understanding about in the future. It may be that they agree to cover their colleagues who want time out to watch a particular fixture, however that flexibility should be repaid when they’d like time off for something important to them.
Big national events can be great for bringing excitement to the workplace and bringing people together as they chat about the results – win or lose. By managing everyone’s expectations with some simple guidelines, you will ensure it is something everyone can enjoy this Summer.
If you would like specific advice directly related to your business, then please call us on 01256 328 428 or email info@realityhr.co.uk
About the author: Nicola Gater, Head of Operations
Nicola has vast experience in a broad range of sectors and expertise in the employment implications of mergers and acquisitions, including the challenges of TUPE regulations. Nicola also works on diversity and inclusion projects, company culture exercises, rewards and performance management programmes, and day-to-day HR.