The global football tournament hosted in the United States, Mexico and Canada kicked off this Thursday (11), bringing a familiar challenge to the Brazilian corporate environment. As matches take place in different time zones, often coinciding with business hours, professionals from different sectors are looking for ways to monitor the performance of their teams. The big issue that arises in offices is the search for balance between passion for sport and maintaining daily productivity.
The routine of companies is directly impacted during the month of competitions, requiring adaptations from both managers and employees. Fanatical fans often try to find gaps in the schedule so as not to miss any important events. However, this attempt at reconciliation requires caution so that sporting enthusiasm does not exceed the limits of professional common sense and end up damaging the employee’s performance evaluation.
What labor legislation says about breaks for sporting events
Unlike what happened in previous editions based in Brazil, such as in 2014, where specific legislation created local holidays in host cities, the current scenario does not offer legal guarantees for the dismissal of employees. The Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) is clear in determining that game days do not constitute a national holiday. Therefore, absence from work or interruption of activities without prior authorization may result in formal warnings or salary deductions at the end of the month.
To overcome this legal rigidity, the legal mechanism most used by companies has been the time bank agreement, regulated more broadly after the labor reform. This tool allows employees to end their workday early to watch a match and make up for this period on other days of the week. Everything depends exclusively on the internal policy adopted by the management of each organization, making consultation with the human resources department a fundamental step before any personal planning.
Alignment of expectations and the vision of career experts
Anticipating dialogue with direct managers represents the best strategy to avoid misunderstandings during the world tournament. Renato Mendes Baptista, main executive of Mendes Talent and professional with two decades of experience in the area of people management, warns that transparency must guide the relationship between employee and employer. Participating in competitions or commenting on the results can be excellent for team engagement, as long as daily goals and service to the external public do not suffer a drop in quality.
The expert also warns about behavioral excesses that tend to tarnish the reputation of good professionals in the corporate environment. Attitudes such as uncontrolled shouting, use of inappropriate vocabulary, provocations directed at colleagues from rival sectors and sudden abandonment of work tables create an unnecessary atmosphere of tension. There is an urgent need to respect the space of those individuals who simply have no interest in sport and wish to focus on their usual tasks in silence.
Along the same line of reasoning, Eliane Aere, who presides over the Brazilian Association of Human Resources in São Paulo (ABRH-SP), points out that moments of relaxation are welcome, but have non-negotiable limits. The festive atmosphere should never be interpreted as an authorization to neglect the company’s rules of conduct. When pranks begin to delay important projects or cause collective embarrassment, the limit of what is acceptable has been broken and leadership will need to intervene.
Corporate planning as a team integration tool
The responsibility for a harmonious environment also falls on companies, which can use the sporting event to their advantage to retain talent. Fernando Pedro, general director of Assigna, an arm of the Talenses Group, argues that prior organization by the board neutralizes possible conflicts. Employers who structure specific moments for broadcasting games, offering controlled breaks, are able to keep the team motivated and, paradoxically, much more focused in moments when work requires full attention.
It is up to the talent management sector to publish manuals or objective communications addressing the temporary rules of coexistence. These documents need to specify whether the use of national team shirts will be permitted, which living areas will broadcast the clashes and reinforce the strict prohibition on the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the firm’s premises. It is imperative that all proposed dynamics are voluntary, guaranteeing absolute comfort to those who choose to ignore the championship.
Practical examples of intelligent adaptation can already be observed in the Brazilian technology market. GetNinjas, a startup based in the capital of São Paulo, transformed its office with themed decorations and implemented a flexible system for monitoring matches. Team members received the green light to cheer both at the company’s facilities and from the comfort of their homes, demonstrating that mutual trust can be a great ally for productivity.
Essential recommendations for maintaining a professional posture on game days
To ensure that the excitement about football does not result in problems with management or the personnel department, some simple attitudes must be incorporated into the office routine. Adopting good practices protects the employee’s image in the long term and ensures a healthy environment for everyone present in the building.
- Consult your company’s conduct manual and speak openly with your superiors about the possibility of taking scheduled breaks.
- Control the volume of your voice and avoid explosive reactions that could distract other departments that continue to operate normally.
- Use mobile devices consciously, checking results quickly without committing hours of work scrolling through social media feeds.
- Maintain empathy and do not force the participation of colleagues who prefer to remain aloof from the international national team tournament.
- Organize your daily schedule in advance so that all deadlines, meetings and reports are delivered on time.
- Refrain from using profanity, making offensive jokes or consuming alcoholic substances, even if the atmosphere seems highly informal.
- Resume your activities with full concentration as soon as the referee whistles the end of the match, demonstrating commitment to the corporation.
The biggest football event on the planet has enormous potential to break the ice and strengthen ties between departments that rarely interact on a daily basis. Preserving maturity and fulfilling contractual obligations continue to be the real watersheds between a professional valued by the market and an employee who puts their career at risk due to a lack of emotional intelligence.
