World Cup office sweepstakes could leave employers facing legal red cards
With the World Cup set to kick off on Thursday, many offices across the City will be gearing up to offer employees the chance to participate in competitions – known as sweepstakes – to place informal bets on who might win.
Sweepstakes involve participants paying a fee into a cash pot and being randomly assigned a team, with the winning team awarded the total prize fund. They’re a common workplace fixture during sporting tournaments but are technically classed as gambling under UK law and are regulated under The Gambling Act.
This seemingly low-stakes activity can cause employers to fall foul of employment law if friction arises between employees and it isn’t properly handled.
“From an employment law perspective, the risk with office sweepstakes isn’t so much the activity itself, but how it plays out in practice. Employers need to be mindful of things like inclusion, pressure to participate, and how any disputes are handled,” Hunters Law partner Clare Brennan told City PM.
Brennan added that employers should “also keep in mind their wider duty of care, particularly where individuals may have personal or cultural reasons for not wanting to engage with gambling-related activities.”
“What starts as a light‑hearted activity can, if not managed carefully, give rise to grievances or broader workplace tensions,” Brennan said.
David Greenhalgh, employment partner at Excello Law, told City PM that as the lighthearted activity often involves employees drinking alcohol, it can “inevitably increase the risk of conflicts between groups supporting different teams”, as well as “an increased chance of problematic behaviours which can easily stray into sexual harassment.”
He said that sweepstakes can also give rise to discriminatory issues, which can easily escalate.
“The further that England hopefully get into the championship, the greater the chance there is of nationality divides becoming an issue in the workplace, especially given the level of banter which a sweepstake is bound to encourage,” he added.
UK businesses are already facing a storm of issues due to the government’s highly contentious employment rights agenda and cost hikes, following the first provisions of the Employment Rights Act, which came into force in April.
As well as this, the government is eyeing a ban on workplace non-disclosure agreements in cases of workplace harassment or discrimination, which may make it harder for disputes to be settled outside of tribunals.
The proposal, which is open for consultation until 8 July and forms part of the recent overhaul of regulation through the Employment Rights Act, would ban the use of NDAs in cases involving workplace harassment or discrimination.