Dealing with requests for time off work during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

During the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games events will take place at venues in the Olympic Park, across London, and at the following out of London venues:

• Brands Hatch
• City of Coventry Stadium
• Eton Dorney
• Hadleigh Farm
• Hampden Park
• Lee Valley White Water Centre
• Millennium Stadium
• Old Trafford
• St James’ Park
• Weymouth and Portland

The Olympic Games start on 27 July 2012 and run until 12 August 2012.

The Paralympic Games begin on 29 August 2012 and close on 9 September 2012.

Some of your staff may already be asking you for time off because they have volunteered to help at the Olympic Games or want to attend as a spectator at the London 2012 Games.

The Games will rely on about 70,000 volunteers called “Games Makers”.  Games Makers will undertake a wide range of roles. Many of these may be behind the scenes or may require working anti-social hours. Some may have to work off-site in a warehouse distributing uniforms; others will be outside exposed to the elements for hours on end.

Games Makers will be required to commit to a minimum of 10 days at either the Olympic or the Paralympic Games, or for a minimum of 20 days if they want to volunteer at both.

For the Olympic officials coordinating the volunteers will be a complex operation, so volunteers will need to be as flexible as possible but once a roster has been allocated Games Makers will not be able to change their shifts.

Games Makers will be given their roster in April 2012, so employers can be given a couple of months’ holiday notice.

With around 6 months to go until the Olympics, it is recommended that,  to avoid any last-minute hurdles employers should be preparing for staff being away from work either as volunteer Games Makers or simply spectators at the numerous events.

Employers should start talking to employees now who are volunteering during the 2012 Games or have acquired tickets to go along to one or more of the events in order to manage expectations and minimise the impact on workplace productivity.

The key to avoiding potential misunderstanding or conflict is to have a clear policy in advance and communicate this to all staff – that way, everyone knows where they stand and you look after your business needs. Your policy need not be very complicated – a simple process of ‘first come, first served’ may be enough.

Employees have no legal right to take time off for volunteering. You can decide to give paid or unpaid time off or, if not, the employee may wish to take annual leave.

Annual Leave – the basics

When an employee starts work details of holidays and holiday pay entitlement should be found in the employee’s written contract, where there is one, or a written statement of employment particulars given to employees by their employer.

Most workers – whether part-time or full-time – are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave. Additional annual leave may be agreed as part of a worker’s contract. A week of leave should allow workers to be away from work for a week – i.e. it should be the same amount of time as the working week. If a worker does a five-day week, he or she is entitled to 28 days leave. If he or she does a three-day week, the pro rata entitlement is 16.8 days leave. Employees who work irregular work patterns accrue leave at a minimum rate of 12.07% of each hour worked.

Employers can set the times that workers take their leave, for example for a Christmas shutdown. If a worker’s employment ends, he or she has a right to be paid for the leave time due and not taken.

Public or Bank Holidays

There is no legal right to paid leave for public holidays; any rights to paid time off for these holidays depends on the terms of a worker’s contract. Paid public holidays can be counted as part of the statutory 5.6 weeks of holiday.

How much notice should be given when requesting leave?

Employers and employees can agree how and when to give notice of when leave is to be taken. But in the absence of any agreement the notice period should be at least twice the period of leave to be taken.

Can an employer refuse leave?

Restrictions on taking holidays may be stated in the contract of employment, implied from custom or practice, or incorporated into individual contracts from a collective agreement.

Employers may choose to:

• Shut down for certain periods where workers have to use their annual entitlement;
• Nominate particular dates as days of closure when workers are expected to take annual leave;
• Determine the maximum amounts of leave that can be taken on any one occasion and also the periods when leave may be taken;
• Determine the number of workers who can be off at any one time.

How do you calculate holiday pay for workers with no normal working hours?

If a worker has no normal working hours then a week’s pay is the average pay received over the preceding 12 weeks. Any weeks for which no pay was due should be replaced by the least previous week for which pay was due.

Contact HR Management Support if you need any further guidance on managing applications for time off from Games Makers during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.