Outlook video: Time off for Olympics volunteers
XpertHR's head of content Jo Stubbs and senior employment law editor Clio Springer discuss employers' obligations with regard to time off work in relation to volunteers for the Olympic Games.
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The questions in full:
Will this affect only employers in the London area?
Not necessarily. As well as events at the Olympic park and other sites across London, there will be events taking place at other sites across the country such as Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff and Coventry.
How will employers be affected?
They are likely to receive requests for time off from people who have volunteered to be Games Makers at some point. Selection events have already started and are due to be completed by early 2012. People who have applied to be Games Makers will get three to five weeks’ notice of their selection event and be offered a choice of times and dates.
And, of course, anyone who is successful at the selection event will have to commit time to training as a volunteer and then the actual volunteering time at the Games. Volunteers will have to take part in at least three training sessions and the volunteering time itself will be a minimum of 10 days during the Games or the Paralympic Games, or 20 days if the individual is volunteering for both. People will be notified in April of their roster for volunteering.
Is there a right to time off to act as a volunteer at the Games?
No, there is no right to either paid or unpaid time off to act as a volunteer.
But surely there could be benefits to employers in having their employees act as volunteers?
Yes, that is something for employers to consider. Anyone who acts as a volunteer is likely to acquire new skills. In addition, the employer could see a boost in employee morale and benefit from the positive publicity generated around having its employees act as volunteers.
Assuming an employer is considering granting time off to volunteers, what are its options?
Many employers will not be in a position to grant additional time off and, even if they are, will not be in a position to pay for it. For a lot of employers the only option will be to require employees to take the time off work out of their annual leave. However, some might consider agreeing a combination of either paid or unpaid special leave and annual leave. For example, an employer might agree to match any period taken from annual leave with an equivalent period of special leave.
Does an employer have to grant a period of annual leave requested to act as a volunteer?
Not necessarily. Requests for annual leave for volunteering can be subject to the same rules as requests for annual leave for any other reason. Employers may have their own rules in place. In the absence of any rules to the contrary, an employee has to give notice equal to twice the length of annual leave that he or she wishes to take. For example, a request to take 10 days’ leave would have to be made at least 20 days before the leave is due to start. The employer can refuse a request by giving counter notice of at least the length of the leave - 10 days’ notice in this case.
If employees give only this minimum notice, it sounds like they may be running a risk of not having their request for annual leave granted?
Yes. In practice, employers may want to have arrangements to encourage employees to submit holiday requests well in advance of the Games, and by a particular deadline, so that they can consider all requests fairly, taking into account the needs of the business. Volunteers will have to be aware that the Games will be taking place for two weeks from the end of July, a popular time for those employees with school-age children in particular to request annual leave. The employer may also receive requests for annual leave from people who have tickets to attend the Games or want to watch them on television.
Could employees request a period of flexible working to cover their period as a volunteer?
Requests for flexible working to volunteer do not come within the statutory framework in the way that flexible working for carers requests do, so employers are under no obligation to consider requests for flexible working for this purpose. However, again, they need to consider the benefits to the organisation of doing so. Flexible working might be feasible to cover the training days - for example the employee might be able to work longer hours for a period or work over the weekend to make the time up. Whether or not it is an option to cover the actual volunteering days will depend on the organisation, and the nature of the employee’s job.
To sum up, what advice would you give to employers that may have volunteers among their workforce?
They should take the time now to decide their policy on what type of leave they will grant to volunteers, whether or not any special leave will be paid, how they will manage competing requests for leave, and their position on flexible working. They may want to encourage employees to request annual leave over the Olympic period well in advance to increase their chance of having it approved.
By setting out their position well in advance, employers will be able to manage employees’ expectations and reduce the likelihood of conflict at a later date.
Olympic Games: relevant model policies and documents
Policy on staff volunteering for the Olympic Games: Use this model policy to explain how your organisation will support employees who wish to do volunteer work for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Policy on sporting and other special events: Use this model policy to deal with absence and other issues arising at the time of sporting or other special events such as the World Cup football tournament or the Olympic Games.
Olympic Games: practical guidance
2012 Olympics volunteers: overview Employees who wish to be 2012 Olympics volunteers will need to make a commitment that is likely to impact on their employer. Employers need to decide how they will deal with requests for time off by Olympics volunteers.
2012 Olympics volunteers: case study This case study looks at a situation in which two employees request leave to enable them to be London 2012 Olympics volunteers.
Weekly dilemma: Annual leave and the 2012 Olympics An employer is worried about how it will handle holiday requests from staff to attend the 2012 Olympics.
