Many employers will want to be seen as being reasonable with their employees this World Cup and with the first two England matches falling kindly for them (as they are outside of most people’s normal working hours) it is only the third game against Slovenia, showing at 3pm, where special arrangements will need to be made.
Most companies will take a sensible view and reach an agreement as to how to enable the football fans amongst their workforce to view the match without impacting their businesses.
But for those in the many industries such as Engineering and Construction where there is a large percentage of staff working remotely from head offices, the issue if far more problematic. And what about those football addicts who want to watch every game? Can businesses afford the productivity loss caused by employees watching Nigeria vs Greece?
Figures show that absenteeism increases by 20% for every England game in the first round and this will be worse the longer the team stay in the competition. Tenon have calculated that British companies stand to lose as much as £500 million during the Cup.
U-Clock is a simple cost-effective way of allowing staff to “clock on” at remote sites using only their mobile phones. Employers can ensure they are on site when they should be and easily monitor hours worked. This removes any arguments from the equation and allows remote staff to be managed exactly as those in the office.
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The U-Clock is one of five products shortlisted for the 2010 Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Innovation award and their MD Jamie McCann commented “I own a ventilation installation company and have staff working all over the country. We came up with the idea of U-Clock to solve a big problem we had monitoring our installation teams. It’s simple, low-cost and easily transferred from site-to-site and we’re extremely proud to have been shortlisted for the GMCC Innovation Award.”