The Olympic and Paralympic Games are fast approaching. As an Employer or someone responsible for HR issues you need to ensure that your business is ready to deal with attendance and performance so that your business can continue to run smoothly throughout this time.

Managing attendance and performance

The Olympic Games are taking place during the school holidays which is traditionally a time when a lot of staff already want to take time off. You may have employees who want to take time off as they have tickets for the Olympics or they wish to watch them at home on TV ,or they may even wish to go on holiday during this time to avoid them altogether. Do you have a policy for considering holiday requests? You should talk to your employees about their plans and if you do not already have one, it is a good idea to create a clear and fair policy or guidelines to manage these requests. This could be as simple as dealing with them on a first come, first served basis.

Whatever you choose to do, you will need to keep an eye on your employees during this period as you may have to deal with conduct or performance issues, for example if staff are watching coverage on their work computers or call in sick if they are not allowed to take time off when they wish. Some businesses may even wish to give their staff access to a TV in a public place during set agreed times as a way to try and reduce these issues.

So that there is clear understanding of your expectations we would suggest that you think about what you are planning to do and communicate this to your staff.