2018 World Cup

It takes place once every 4 years and has the nation gripped, believing that their team may be in with a chance of winning. That one of the England squad may recreate the magic of Sir Geoffrey Hurst when he scored a hat-trick during the 4-2 defeat of West Germany in the final of the 1966 tournament. Lasting for a month, 32 countries will battle it out, with this years’ final taking place on 15^th July. Yes, it is the FIFA World Cup.

Having started well in the warm up match last Thursday, beating Costa Rica 2-0 at Elland Road, Leeds, how will England perform during the group stages? Being in Group G, along with Tunisia, Panama and Belgium, the timings of the group stage matches are unlikely to affect the majority of peoples’ work schedules but, should England somehow manage to get through to the knockout stages, there could be a chance of some conflicts of interest.

Plus, it may not just be about England. With the multi-cultural society we live in today, your workforce may not be bothered about them, but more interested in the team from their home country, should they be competing, such as Poland or Croatia.

What if schedules collide?

No longer are the days of 9-5. What with 24-hour supermarkets, warehouse and production shift work and, not forgetting, the emergency services, more and more people are no longer working ‘normal’ hours. So, what if your employees are moaning that they are going to miss that all important match?  You could consider the following:-

• Employees taking unpaid time off so they don’t miss the game
• Employees making up any time off taken
• Bringing a TV into the work environment so staff can carry on working without missing the fun (don’t forget the TV licence though!)

With a bit of forward planning, hopefully, you will be able to deal with any staff wanting time off, rather than them taking ‘unscheduled’ absences.