Ready… get set for the Olympics
Employment Law & HR update 13/01/2012
2012 sees the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games come to Great
Britain. Although centred on London, Games events are due to take
place at venues throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Wherever
you are in the country, if you've not already started to consider
the possible impact on your business, now is the time to check
whether you might be affected and start planning for the disruption
or business opportunities.
In future e-bulletins, we'll be looking at how you should deal
with the employment and HR issues, but we'll begin here with an
overview of what's happening, where and when, and some things you
need to start thinking about. As always, for specific advice,
contact our Telephone Advice Service.
When are the Olympic Games?
- Olympic Games - 27th July 2012 to 12th
August
- Paralympic Games - 29th August 2012 to
9th September
Where are the venues?
Principal venues are as follows:
- Stratford, east London - main venue
- Wembley, north London
- Central London (the Mall and Hyde Park)
- Wimbledon, south London – Tennis
- Coventry – Football
- Cardiff Millennium Stadium – Football
- Newcastle St James' Park – Football
- Glasgow Hampden Park – Football
- Manchester Old Trafford – Football
- Weymouth – Sailing
What are the issues for employers?
How much employers will be affected will depend on where they
are located and whether they have any responsibilities towards the
Games – for example as a sponsor or supplier.
The main issues are:
- Business disruption due to traffic congestion and security
arrangements
- Staff absence due to volunteering / spectating / watching
events at home
- Staff unable to get to work or subject to delay owing to travel
congestion and security arrangements
Employers near Games venues
Employers whose businesses are located near Games venues need to
be prepared for the disruption caused both by spectator traffic and
by the additional security measures that are likely to be apparent.
These might cause general business disruption, for example, if
suppliers are unable to get to business premises or customers are
deterred from visiting. They will also affect your employees'
travel to work arrangements.
You can check event dates and times near you on the London 2012
website:
http://www.london2012.com/visiting/getting-to-the-games/locations-of-venues/
What arrangements can you consider?
- Most planned staff absences should be dealt with through your
organisation's usual holiday request policy
- You could consider granting additional time off for staff who
have enrolled as Olympics volunteers. Such time off would normally
be unpaid. Or you could allow volunteers to take some time off as
paid holiday and some as unpaid absence
- A variety of temporary flexible working options can be
considered if getting to work is likely to be a problem. These
might include temporarily altering start and finish times, working
from home or working from other locations within your
organisation.
If you would like further
information, and already subscribe
NatWest
Mentor,
please call the Advice
Service. If you would like more information on
how Mentor could help your business in situations like this and
many others, contact
us today for
information.
Next story - Supreme Court to rule on
forced retirement test case
Previous story - Queen's Diamond Jubilee
means one bank holiday moved and an additional public holiday
declared