London 2012 Olympics - How are your employers treating the Olympic Games?

So 7 years after the announcement that London would be the host city of the 2012 Olympics, the games are nearly upon us. There has been a steady build up of anticipation over those years, and excitement is ready to burst, with millions of the British public being involved in the Olympics in one capacity or another.

With huge events like this, there is always debate within the business community about how best to deal with staff demands for additional time off, or flexible working hours, and London 2012 has been no different. Anecdotal evidence has shown that many companies are doing what they can to accommodate staff requests, but a recent study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has shown that 48% of companies polled, are making no changes to the work day during the games.

For many employees, it is not just a case of wanting to be available to watch their favourite sporting events, more a case of being unable to get into work at peak times during the Olympics due to the volume of people travelling on London’s transport network. Is it fair that these people should have 2 or 3 hours a day added to their journey into work during the games?

Anyway, enough of the negative side… I’m working on a feature highlighting the good work that many UK businesses are doing to make the lives of their employees easier during the Olympics, and also one that provides advice to those travelling in London during the peak times. Should be a blast, watch this space!