The UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament starts on 2nd July. Games are scheduled early and late evening and some fans may find a way to engage with the tournament during working time with or without consent. Here’s our top 3 ways in which you can minimise the impact of the Euro’s at work:

1. Communicate your expectations clearly

Talk to your workforce about possible opportunities to engage with the tournament during working hours. You can even ask them for their feedback on how the right balance can be achieved.

This might mean making a couple of allowances, such as putting the radio on where this may not have been permitted previously or having a breakout room where people can go and watch the TV or check the score intermittently. For remote employees it might be an online watch-along or, for roles where flexibility is possible, employers could allow employees to time their lunch break around a fixture, or agree to start earlier or work later at the end of the day.

With those working from home it is always more difficult, so be sure to regularly touch base with them to see what their arrangements are.

This approach is likely to:

a) win you some brownie points

and b) gain respect in terms of the limitations that you decide to put in place.

Here are the fixtures for the next few weeks to help with your planning.

2. Remember, some people just aren’t that into it

Don’t forget about those employees who don’t really care about England’s starting eleven. Although events like these carry a national significance that is difficult to contest, HR teams can do a few things to acknowledge these employees:

• Be clear about the reasons why these allowances are being made
• Respect other employee’s interests
• Openly acknowledge that any special provisions can be a bit rough on those who simply aren’t interested.

We have found that this honesty and acknowledgement goes a mighty long way.

3. When employees disregard the rules, investigate, and follow your disciplinary procedure

Despite the clear rules that you have put in place, there’s always one (or a few) who will disregard them.

If you suspect foul play (pun intended) such as an employee taking unpermitted time off work or being dishonest: investigate and deal with this under your disciplinary procedure.

Remember that you have already made ‘special allowances’ and given structure around engaging with the tournament, so if the rules are broken you are dealing with a fundamental behaviour issue that needs dealing with in the same way any other issue would.

Ultimately, our advice to clients is to do whatever they can to be clear about their expectations and make sure that the rules are enforced fairly.

And come on England!