TV Licensing

TV Licensing reminds businesses to be licensed ahead of Euros football tournament

Football fans around the UK are all set to enjoy the European football tournament playing out live on their TVs, laptops, tablets and smartphones, but some may have to arrange an afternoon off to make sure their employer is kept happy.

The most talked about match of the draw is England v Wales, with the Group B game in the French city of Lens kicking off at 2pm on Thursday 16 June.

Many workers across the UK will be leaving their desks to cheer on their favoured team in front of the canteen TV while some may choose to live stream the match on their work computer.

According to recent research¹, only one in three employees feel informed about the rules when it comes to watching live TV at work. To help managers inform their teams, TV Licensing has developed a Workplace Viewing Guide which provides simple guidance for workplace leaders and staff who want to watch the tournament at work.

The survey also revealed only 23 per cent of employees at a permanent workplace operating a TV viewing policy said they have permission to watch any TV at work, meaning much of the UK workforce may miss out on the big game, or have to go home to follow the action.

However, 29 per cent of UK employees at a permanent workplace said they would watch a big sporting event at work, such as the Euros, if the TV viewing policy allowed it, with 21 per cent of male UK employees thinking that watching a big sporting event fosters a ‘good team spirit’ at the workplace.

Jason Hill, spokesperson for TV Licensing, said:

The England v. Wales game airs on BBC One at 1:30pm next Thursday. With such a key game, employers may be tempted to bring TVs in to the workplace or let staff watch on their computers, mobiles or tablets so everyone can catch all the live sporting action. It’s important businesses know the law around live TV being shown in the workplace – a TV Licence is needed if anyone - staff or customers - watches or records TV programmes at the same time as they are shown on TV, whether on a TV, tablet, computer or any other type of equipment.

At TV Licensing we want to help business owners and managers understand when their businesses need a TV licence.

Why not download and display our Workplace Viewing Guide at your workplace? This will ensure everyone is aware of when a licence is needed.

Your licence for your home address covers you to watch live TV on any equipment away from your address as long as it is powered by batteries. If you plug it in to the mains, you need to be covered by a licence at the place you are using it.

The England v. Wales match will be shown at 1.30pm on BBC One, Thursday 16 June.

¹ Survey conducted by online by YouGov, total sample size was 4276, of which 2049 were employees. Fieldwork was carried out 20-24 August 2015. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).