More than half of employers open to flexible working arrangements during Olympics, survey finds

Provisional data from an annual survey into resourcing and talent planning by HR body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that many companies are planning to allow greater flexibility so that staff can avoid potential transport disruption.

Almost three in ten employers say they will try and accommodate requests by employees to work from home, while a further 13% state that they will "actively encourage" the practice. 17% of the 500 employers intend to extend existing flexible working opportunities.

The organisation trailed the research, which will be presented in full at its Recruitment and Resourcing Conference next month, alongside newly-issued guidance on how employers should deal with absence around high-profile sporting events such as the Olympics and upcoming Euro 2012 football championship in Poland and the Ukraine.

"The key for employers is to plan ahead, set out clearly what the organisation's approach is and the rationale behind this and then apply it consistently," said Rebecca Clake, research advisor at CIPD. "Options such as flexi-time and home working can enable employees in parts of the country likely to face travel disruption as a result of the Olympics to spend their time working rather than stuck in traffic jams or adding to the pressure likely to be faced by our public transport system."

However, she noted that 35% of public sector employers surveyed by CIPD were planning to "restrict leave" during the Olympics to ensure that they had sufficient staff to deliver services such as public transport.

Employment law expert Selwyn Blyth of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said that although many employment law issues had been raised relating to the Olympics, a pragmatic approach by employers would ensure the best levels of productivity from their staff. However, he warned that employers would not be able to accommodate every request particularly where the nature of the work prevented staff working from home.

"Most of the existing law surrounding flexible working deals with people wanting to change their working arrangements on a more permanent basis, so you'll find that many employers will choose to adopt a commonsense approach to this topic," he explained. "In the relevant parts of London in particular a flexible approach makes sense - staff who have the opportunity to work remotely, for example, will likely be more productive if they are not spending hours every day caught in traffic."

Absence management was likely to be a bigger issue for many employers, he said, although with many of the more high-profile events taking place at evenings and weekends to maximise television viewing figures much of its impact had been slightly "overblown".

"It's not as if this is an issue that hasn't been discussed before, particularly around high-profile international sporting events such as the World Cup," he said. "There is a potential misconduct issue where employees simply don't turn up for work, or perhaps phone in sick after being refused time off for genuine business reasons without being able to present evidence of an illness. Many employers have already adopted a 'first come, first served' approach to leave requests and employees who were lucky enough to get tickets will have likely applied for time off well in advance, while a practical solution could be to screen high-profile events at work, subject to management discretion."

Almost a third of employers plan to make TVs available in the workplace while 11% will allow employees to view events online on their work computers, according to CIPD.