Although it may not seem like it, with the endless supply of grey skies, but the summer of sport is here! And this summer is shaping up to be an exciting one in terms of sporting events. The Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup, Wimbledon and the World Cup are taking place, to name but a few, with the former two events happening on home turf! But what could this mean for employers?

Whilst these events are exciting, it is important for employers to think of how they are going to manage employees during this period, in terms of authorised and unauthorised absences, travel disruption and potential loss of productivity.

The first hurdle (excuse the pun!) that employers and employees may face will come in terms of travel disruption. It has been announced this week that there will be allocated 'Game lanes' in operation for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. This means that employees may face severe travel disruption during the period of the Games. If employees are likely to be affected, employers may wish to consider alternatives such as allowing employees to work flexible hours to avoid peak times or even allowing employees to work from home.

In order to ensure fairness in holiday requests, employers should make sure that they have an appropriate policy in place and deal with requests in accordance with this policy during popular summer months.

It will not be surprising that big sporting events result in increased absence levels, either due to employees wishing to stay home to watch sport or because they have celebrated too much the night before! However unauthorised absences can have a big impact on business and therefore employees should be reminded of a company sickness absence policy and the failure to follow the correct reporting procedure. Employees should remember that failure to follow this policy could potentially result in disciplinary action.

Employees may wish to watch some of the sporting events on their computer during lunch breaks and employers might consider allowing this, whilst ensuring that the needs of the business continue to be met. By allowing employees this leeway, employers may actually boost morale and loyalty from their employees in the long run.