Tuesday July 3, 2012

Footie fans go back to reality

By YVONNE LIM
yvonnelim@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Employees recovering from a month of late-night matches were expected to call in sick, take leave or simply not show up for work, no thanks to the Euro 2012 fever.

However, human resources representatives in several multi-national companies said most of their workers clocked in on time yesterday despite looking tired from staying up for the final match between Spain and Italy, which ended at about 4.30am.

Spain won the Euro 2012 championship by beating Italy 4-0.

“We have many deadlines to meet this month so most employees turned up for work albeit behaving like zombies'. But there were some who took leave or got permission from their managers to work from home,” said Daniel Tan, a human resource executive at IBM.

He said based on his observation, women who watched the final match turned up for work while men would take leave or opt to work from home.

“Perhaps, this is because our annual leave days are limited and women are more unwilling to spend them on something like football,” he said.

A human resource manager from a large electronics manufacturing company said he was surprised to see many people showing up for work looking quite fresh.

“I guess most employees must have gotten enough sleep prior to the match or had it recorded for viewing later because they came in this morning,” he said.

Nestle Malaysia corporate affairs manager Zamira Yasmin Abdul Rahman said there was no change in the work environment in the office.

“In general, everyone came in on time and were in good spirits,” she said.

However, there was a marked difference in the usual morning peak hour traffic in the Klang Valley with fewer cars on the road.

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said many employers must have given their workers leeway to recover from the excitement of the tournament.

“It is important for employers to be considerate towards their staff. Allowing them to take planned leave is better than them not showing up for work at all after something like the Euro 2012 finals.

“If the management is able to plan ahead for this, it should not significantly affect productivity,” he said.

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Tuesday July 3, 2012

Footie fans go back to reality

By YVONNE LIM yvonnelim@thestar.com.my

By YVONNE LIM
yvonnelim@thestar.com.my