The Issue: Should employers offer flexi-time so staff can see the Rugby World Cup?

Andrew Webster, manager at the Oxford Retreat 

The 2015 Rugby World Cup is nearly upon us.

This tournament promises to be the most open and exciting yet and to watch the very best players from across the world compete on our doorstep is an opportunity to be seized – rugby’s coming home, and we can’t wait.

We don’t know when we will ever again get another Football World Cup in England so this is the next best thing. Everyone I speak to who was around at the time can recall where they were when they watched England win the World Cup in 1966 and so to miss out watching England win at a World Cup at home because you have to go to work would be devastating.

The London 2012 Olympics showed just how much the country gets behind big sporting events held at home and if England are playing in the final on October 31, I can’t really see how productive employees will be if you are not showing the rugby.

At The Oxford Retreat we will be showing all the matches live with a huge screen installed for the England games.

We already have some big bookings already for our function room – lots more than for the recent football World Cup, which shows the demand when tournaments are at home and when England have a chance of winning.

Of course it’s not feasible for every employee to have flexi-time for any given match, but that doesn’t mean we as businesses can’t attempt to accommodate those that do want to support their chosen team wherever possible.

All England’s games are in the evening and on the weekend so it’s not going to be too difficult to accommodate. If England are playing in the knock-out games, most businesses that operate on the weekend, like restaurants and retail not showing the matches, will be very quiet.

Like rugby itself, flexi-time for the World Cup boils down to teamwork. You don’t dive into the ruck with the intent of going on to score a try yourself, but to get the ball out to another player. The team wins, not the individual. Morale cannot be understated, and to be able to watch England play a World Cup final at home cannot be substituted.

For morale, for Rugby, for England, allow staff flexi-time. Are you really going to deprive your staff a Sir Johnny drop-goal moment?

NO

Andrew Norton, director of the Jam Factory 

Employers allowing flexi-time specifically for the Rugby World Cup 2015 is not something I can agree with.

One of my regrets in life was not going to my father’s retirement party.

Back in 2005 when I was a junior manager in a fish restaurant, I was not given a requested Saturday evening off despite explaining why and giving the required notice to my manager.

After devoting 40 years to the same firm, he deserved his celebration and for his family to be there. I don’t believe my dad’s generation would have considered ‘flexi-time’ and especially not for a mere sporting event. What was clear is Dad wouldn’t have expected me to get the evening off work in the first place.

I am fortunate that my colleagues come from a wide and diverse set of backgrounds and nationalities, bringing with them the same level of drive and ambition that was more commonplace with my parents’ generation. There are so many hard-working people around the world desperate for the opportunities so many of us take for granted. It seems that if we are discussing flexi-time for a sporting event, we are fast devaluing the working values to which we owe so much.

Should we decide to define an employment policy based on the Rugby World Cup, we would be setting a precedent that would be unsustainable.

How should we decide what is worthy of ‘getting the night off work’? It seems that the days of ‘births, deaths and marriages’ being the only justified reason for getting time off have gone, but is this right?

I actually agree that flexi-time, used for what it was intended, can have huge positive benefits to our society. It clearly allows more people to work, whether parents, students or those with second jobs.

The ability for employees to negotiate more flexible working hours without fear of judgment or retaliation is a concept no employer would argue with.

Imagine the household with two working parents being able work more and still pick their kids up from school, or the single mum who is not penalised for not being able to start work until 9.30am?

We should be supporting flexi-time for what is was intended and not for gratuitous entertainment. To all my staff reading this, I would like your requests in for next week’s rota as soon as possible please.