Question

• Should a player's salary be reduced if the number of games in a season are reduced because of covid-19?
• Are winner-take-all (or winner-take-most) contests a good reward mechanism? Would you want to take part in them at your workplace?

Answer 1

Many clubs will no doubt be finding it difficult to manage cash-flows in the absence of a regular stream of gate receipts, meaning that drastic financial measures may need to be implemented in order to help manage wage expenditure over the coming months, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Championship side Birmingham City has allegedly asked its players to take wage deferrals, with those players earning more than £6,000 per week being asked to accept a 50% wage reduction for the next four months. It is rumoured that those players affected will be paid back in stages once the football season resumes.

Although the financial position and circumstances of each club in the footballing pyramid varies extensively, in this article, we anticipate the questions that we think many football clubs in England will be asking over the coming days and weeks, in these unparalleled circumstances.

Can English clubs temporarily suspend footballer employees on zero pay?

Unless there is an express and unambiguous contractual right to suspend in these circumstances, then there is no clear route to employee suspension. Imposing a suspension without agreement from the player may give rise to employment claims and disciplinary sanctions against the club, so it is imperative that agreement is sought from the outset.

Interestingly, professional football contracts in Scotland are like. In the event of the Scottish FA deciding that the game shall be suspended, either entirely or in any district or district as provided for in the articles of association of the Scottish FA, this Agreement shall be correspondingly suspended, unless the Club is exempted from such suspension or the Club otherwise determines”

A clause of this nature very much leaves the player in a vulnerable position, particularly given the fact that the current Scottish football season is to be suspended to an uncertain period. Ultimately, the above clause simply means that the player contract (a document which outlines the employment relationship between the club and the player) will be suspended, in the event that the Scottish FA decides that football should be suspended (unless the relevant club decides otherwise).

Given that Scottish football is currently suspended, due to the coronavirus outbreak, literal reading of the above clause would suggest that it has now come “into effect” and that the playing contracts of those players who are affiliated to the Scottish FA are currently suspended (subsequently meaning that the player’s right to receive wages is suspended also).

The position in England, however, is considerably different to that in Scotland. The standard Premier League and EFL Player Contract does not include an express contractual right that would allow for a club to temporarily suspend a player’s contract in these current circumstances. However, that does not mean to say that an agreement can’t be reached between a club and a player to the contrary.

The important point to note here is that any agreement reached, along the lines of the above, must be mutually agreed and documented in writing in order to protect a club’s position against any potential employment claims and disciplinary sanctions.

2.

There are tremendous benefits to being the best in any particular area. Top performers might be only slightly more skilled than the people one level below them, yet they receive an exponential payoff. A small difference in relative performance—an athlete who can run 100 meters a few microseconds faster, a leader who can make better decisions, an opera singer who can go a little higher—can mean the difference between a lucrative career and relative obscurity. The people at the tops of their fields get it all. They are the winners in that particular market. And once someone is regarded as the best, they tend to retain that status. It takes a monumental effort for a newcomer to rise to such a position. Every day new people do make it to the top, but it’s a lot easier to stay there than to get there.

Top performers don’t just earn the most. They also tend to receive the majority of media coverage and win most awards. They have the most leverage when it comes to choosing their work. These benefits are exponential, following a power law distribution. A silver medalist might get 10 times the benefits the bronze medalist does. But the gold medalist will receive 10 times the benefits of the silver. If a company is risking millions over a lawsuit, they will want the best possible lawyer no matter the cost. And a surgeon who is 10% better than average can charge more than 10% higher fees. When someone or something is the best, we hear about it. The winners take all the attention. It’s one reason why the careers of Nobel Prize winners tend to go downhill after receiving the award. It becomes too lucrative for them to devote their time to the media, giving talks or writing books. Producing more original research falls by the wayside. So winner- takes -all may not be a good reward in several cases.

In workplace every employee should get motivated through rewards. If an employee is getting highly paid for slightly higher skill than his or her subordinates then others get demotivated. And this causes reduction in employee retention.