Scotland on the global stage – how the World Cup affects your business

The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup is on the horizon. Excitement among football fans globally continues to grow. With Scotland and England having automatically qualified, Wales and Northern Ireland face the playoffs in their bid to qualify.

With the potential for three home nations competing in the World Cup Finals, this summer looks set to be a busy one. Scotland’s involvement in Euro 2024 showed that adoring Scots will travel in large numbers to support their team. This sporting event looks no different with travel agents reporting that in the hours following Scotland’s historic victory over Denmark, they received a dramatic spike in inquiries for packages to the USA.

But, as the World Cup grows ever closer, what are the implication for employers? With employees due to set off on their transatlantic journeys, employers must ensure companies are prepared for the full 90 minutes, extra time and penalties.

Holiday requests

Although football fans may protest, there is no statutory right to take holiday to watch sporting events. However, UK fulltime employees are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid annual leave per year, with a statutory minimum of four weeks.

All employees accrue holiday entitlement throughout the year. This applies to workers, agency workers, zero-hours staff and casual workers. Holiday entitlement continues to accrue throughout employment, including during periods of sickness and statutory leave.

Those travelling to the World Cup should ensure they give their employer sufficient notice for any request for holidays or other forms of special leave. Employers may refuse holiday requests in line with their own policy, if business needs require it.

Most companies will have a specific procedure for requesting annual leave. Employers should check any relevant policies and procedures now, to ensure they are fit for purpose ahead of the summer. It is likely that many adoring fans (whether travelling or not) will look for annual leave during the World Cup due to the late kick off times. Employers should ask employees to provide early notice of any holiday requests as soon as possible to help minimise disruption or upset.

Public holidays

Following Scotland’s qualification, many called for a public holiday to fully embrace our national team’s return to the world’s biggest footballing stage. Scots parliamentarians have duly obliged and First Minister John Swinney has proposed that 15 June 2026 is designated as a national public holiday.

This news has certainly been well received by the nation. However, many may be surprised to hear that this gesture may not extend to them. Only public sector employees in areas operated by the Scottish government would potentially qualify for the extra day off, if the proposal is accepted. Even at that, it depends on their contract wording.

This may cause confusion for employers and employees who assume that they are entitled to a further day’s holiday. Clear communication to staff is key to avoid misinformation and people going AWOL due to misleading news headlines. Eligibility for the additional public holiday may depend on the wording of the holiday entitlement clause within their contracts.

Home working requests

Employers who refuse annual leave requests or have a remote working policy in place, may expect to receive home working requests during the tournament.

Any request to work from home during the tournament should be dealt with in line with company procedures and policies. Requests can be made both formally and informally. Employers should ensure they keep any requests well documented and follow their typical process. If any confusion arises around a request, employers should refer to ACAS guidance.

Employers should ensure that any home working policy is suitable and up to date in advance of the summer. Consideration may be given to allowing employees flexibility during the tournament to mitigate the potential use of sickness absence and unauthorised leave.

If any employees request to work from home while overseas, employers should be aware that this carries financial and legal risks. Employers will still owe a duty of care under UK Health and Safety law and may fall foul of local labour laws in the host country. Further, consideration should be given to handling customer data outside the UK or EU, leading to a breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In these circumstances, employers should fully consider all legal and financial implications before authorising a request to work from home, overseas. This will only help protect the employer and employee from any expensive implications.

Employee conduct matters

Another consideration for employers is to ensure their employees conduct themselves in the best manner, both during and outside their hours of work. History tells us that emotions tend to run high around major footballing events. Employers should ensure their employees are aware of the expectations and standards of behaviour placed on them, including on social media.

Some employees may post on social media during working hours or produce content that harms their employer’s reputation or constitutes harassment, particularly on the grounds of nationality, religion or gender. As such, employers would do well to review existing risk assessments and social media policies ahead of the World Cup.

What does this mean for employers?

As with all major sporting events, the World Cup presents opportunities for employer-employee engagement, while providing a boost to staff morale. Employers must ensure compliance while also promoting a safe, positive workplace environment.

How we can help

If you would like to discuss how this issue might impact you or your business, please contact a member of our team.