Published by SA Labour Guide - an interesting read

Employers in the tourism, hospitality and related sectors are well advised to seriously ponder several critical World Cup-related issues.
For one thing, with private and public schools to close during the World Cup, many employees, especially those who are parents, will want time off from work.
In fact some public sector employers are encouraging their employees to take time off. They are actually incentivising their workforce to take annual leave by offering them an additional, ex-gratia, leave day for every four days of annual leave taken during June and July.

Employers taking the annual leave route should advise their employees opting for annual leave during this period to advise their managers accordingly and book their leave early to facilitate operational arrangements.

Companies operating in the tourism, hospitality, manufacturing, retail and related sectors are set to boom during the World Cup. Employers in these sectors are unlikely to incentivize their workforce to take annual leave during this period, and instead might consider offering flexible working hour arrangements to their workforce to allow employees the opportunity to watch matches at home or at theme parks or stadiums.

In such an event, employees’ productivity should be properly monitored to avoid abuse and to ensure that such practices are not counterproductive.

While flexibility could bolster workplace morale, employers must take care that they avoided allegations of discrimination. For example, employers must offer flexible working arrangements to both men and woman and not assume that only males would be interested in watching and attending matches. Also, employers should be careful not to give preference to South African fans over other nationalities.

Where employees are going to be required to be on site during matches, employers should consider making facilities available to employees to watch matches on their desktops and laptops via the internet.

Obviously regard must be had to the employer’s e-mail or internet policies. Exceptions should be communicated to employees, drawing their attention to the monitoring of their internet usage during this period; that any abuse of the company’s IT systems will not be tolerated, and if such abuse occurs it may result in disciplinary action being taken.

In some organisations the IT infrastructure might not be able to handle live audio streaming. If so, employees should be reminded that live audio streaming could compromise the company’s IT systems and, where applicable, is prohibited in terms of the company’s IT policy.

If the employer makes alternative arrangements for employees to watch matches, advise them – for example, big screen televisions being placed in communal areas.