“The Olympics are OK, they’re every four years…”: what are the risks of watching the Olympic Games while you’re at work ?

Many French people admit to watching the Olympics while they work. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

On office computers, their phone or their tablet, they haven't missed many medals: like Andréa, many employees use every means to watch at work , secretly or not, the events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, despite the disciplinary sanctions incurred.

With “five meetings a week, and two emails a day to send… At 9:30 a.m. my work is done", admits, all smiles, this 34-year-old banker (who, like all the people interviewed by AFP, wishes to remain anonymous), who is watching a Teddy Riner fight while answering questions.

The daily schedule of this employee in an agency located near Tours: “Diving, handball, athletics, boxing, basketball, BMX tonight, judo… If all goes well, we can take 5 or 6 medals!”Seduced by the French performances, 54 million French people watched at least one minute of the Games on France Télévisions, 15 million more than the Tokyo Olympics at the same stage in 2021, the public group told AFP on Thursday.

“Like many French people, we were waiting before the start of the Games”, concedes Andréa, who has since become passionate about it: “I didn't miss many medals!” “The times of the events correspond well, the Games are being held at home and the athletes are more than up to standard and thrill us”, he justifies.

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What does it matter if his superior “doesn't have the Olympic spirit and hasn't given his approval”to the team to watch the events in the agency. “We watch discreetly on our phones and tablets and talk about it at lunch!” “It's okay, the Olympics are every four years…”, says Leïla, 52, deputy purchasing manager in a medium-sized company in the suburbs of Orléans.

The managers “told the team off when they saw us watching the Games”, but “We keep following on our phones trying not to get caught”, she jokes. “It's even easier when you're working from home.”

Office or telework, same fight

The fact remains that the employer can sanction an employee, whether in the office or working remotely, if he or she has not been busy with his or her task. “It depends on the work you do”, specifies Me Diane Reboursier, interviewed by AFP. “The employer can take disciplinary action (a warning for example) if the employee fails to meet safety obligations, for example, if he looks at his phone rather than selling in a store or serving in a restaurant, if he misses information or things to do”, explains the lawyer specializing in labor law.

But “if you are in front of your computer and watching television at the same time, we will not be able to know unless you are missing something”, she qualifies. Not all managers want to crack down.“I only ask myself one question: Is the work done or not ?”, confides Pauline, 40, who manages around ten employees in a company listed on the CAC 40, and who admits to following the tests herself.

Relieving tensions

Claire, 29, and her colleagues at a Parisian temp agency don't hide it: “The big boss isn't here right now but there's a even the sector managers who completely agree",

"We watch the Olympics either individually when we have work, or in groups when it's quieter", confides the customer service representative, who points out that "for the World Cup (football in 2022), we had the matches on a big TV".

Watching the Olympics at work "helps generate “discussions that bring people from different cultures together,” argues Yann, 25, who heads an Italian team in the energy sector near Milan. For this French engineer, “when a remarkable performance occurs, like that of Léon Marchand, it can become a subject that releases potential tensions within teams.”.