Poland: Weekly Work‑Sport Balance Team Movement Hour

Weekly Work‑Sport Balance Team Movement Hour, Poland

In Poland, survey data indicate lower self‑reported participation in exercise compared with some EU countries, with meaningful variation by age, region, and type of activity. Decathlon Polska’s Work‑Sport Balance gives each employee one paid hour a week to move with teammates at work. Teams plan it, warm up, play for about 40 minutes, cool down, and, if they choose, log minimal details in Worksmile without photos by default. It is optional and employee‑led with rotating session captains, and opting out has no impact on performance evaluations. The goal is better health, stronger ties, and sharper focus, which may be associated with fewer sick days and will be evaluated in a time‑bound pilot. Early adopters include Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego Józefa Piłsudskiego w Warszawie (AWF Warszawa; Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw), indicating the idea can travel beyond retail.

Context: Why Poland Made Time to Move

A widely cited data point set the stage for a new kind of team ritual: media summaries of the European Commission’s 2022 Special Eurobarometer on sport and physical activity reported high shares of Polish respondents selecting “never” to the item about exercising or playing sport, placing Poland among lower‑activity EU countries while distinguishing this from other forms of physical activity. Media coverage repeated the finding and sometimes cited long working hours as one barrier among several reported in the survey, without asserting a single cause. *

Against that backdrop, one employer decided to ritualize movement inside the workday, not after it. In September 2024, Decathlon Polska launched “Work‑Sport Balance” (WSB): a weekly, paid hour employees can use for physical activity, on the clock. The program reframes exercise from a private, after-hours chore to a shared, repeating work ritual that teams can do together. * *

Meet Decathlon Polska

Decathlon is the ubiquitous sports retailer; in Poland the brand’s culture is explicitly “sport-first,” and its employer branding encourages staff to live the mission together. In that spirit, the company’s WSB policy, announced publicly on 2 September 2024, grants every employee on an employment contract one fully paid hour per week for sport (or two hours taken together every two weeks). Participation is strictly voluntary and employee‑led: people choose the activity, time, and whether to go solo or gather colleagues, and opting out carries no penalty or performance consequence. The hour is still part of work and is intended to support well‑being, relationships, and attention, without being tied to individual performance ratings. *

To make the ritual repeatable and visible, Decathlon pairs WSB with light structure: employees plan their sport time in advance and may record a minimal session check‑in on Worksmile (date, team, 0/1 participation) with access limited to appropriate roles and a defined retention window. This simple, text‑only log creates momentum and a shared norm (“We’re doing this together”) while respecting consent and privacy. *

The program is designed to spread through clear benefits and easy replication. The WSB website lists expected benefits (“fewer sick leaves, better team relations, higher effectiveness”) and provides a free tutorial so other employers can copy the model, with the recommendation to test these outcomes locally in a defined pilot before scaling. Within months of the launch, the Rector of Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego Józefa Piłsudskiego w Warszawie (AWF Warszawa; Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw) publicly announced WSB for university staff, evidence that the ritual can travel beyond retail floors into offices and lecture halls. * *

The Ritual

Element	What Happens	Cadence	Owner
Plan the hour	Team members pencil a 60‑minute sport slot (or 2×30/1×120 every two weeks), aligning calendars when they want to go together.	Weekly	Each participant; team lead coordinates optional group slots
Gear‑up & warm‑up	Meet at a chosen space (court, climbing wall, park, in‑house area) and run a 5–10 minute mobility warm‑up.	Each session	Rotating “session captain”
Do the activity	Low‑risk, high‑bond activities (e.g., badminton doubles, climbing top‑rope in pairs, table tennis, mobility/calisthenics circuits). No meetings, no laptops.	35–45 min	Group
Cool‑down & reset	5–10 minutes of guided stretching; hydration, then back to work.	Each session	Session captain
Log & nudge	Record the activity with minimal metadata in Worksmile, and use text‑only acknowledgments by default with opt‑in consent for any images to normalize participation.	Immediately after	Each participant

Administrative rules: 1 paid hour weekly (or 2 consecutive hours biweekly); activity and timing are employee‑chosen; participation is voluntary with a socially safe opt‑out and an equivalent non‑movement alternative; time is fully paid and logging is optional, limited to date/team and a 0/1 participation check with no photos by default and a 90‑day retention in line with GDPR. * *

Why It Works

Group movement bonds people, fast. Experimental studies show that synchronized, exertive activity elevates pain thresholds (a proxy for endorphins) and increases in‑group bonding, observed in rowers training together and in coordinated exercise and dance conditions. In short: moving together literally feels better together, and that chemistry spills into teamwork. * *

Short, active breaks also protect bodies and brains. Workplace stretch‑break programs have been associated with improved flexibility, grip strength, and fewer musculoskeletal complaints; reviews of work‑break schedules explain how micro‑breaks interrupt repetitive strain without harming performance. For retail and office roles alike, that’s ergonomic insurance. * *

Culturally, the ritual fits many Polish retail and office workplaces today while acknowledging regional, generational, and role‑based differences. With national coverage often discussing time constraints and varying participation rates, moving sport into paid time reframes it from “personal hobby” to “shared responsibility”, a clear signal that well‑being and team cohesion are part of work without implying a single cause, and it echoes earlier traditions of workplace and student sport (e.g., zakładowe kluby sportowe and AZS). *

Outcomes & Impact

Normalizing movement at work: The WSB campaign positioned exercise as part of the job and offered a public how‑to so other employers can adopt the practice. Decathlon’s press materials highlight expected organizational benefits, such as fewer sick leaves, better team relations, and higher effectiveness, and invite others to trial the approach in a measured pilot before wider adoption. Early adoption by Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego Józefa Piłsudskiego w Warszawie (AWF Warszawa) indicates emerging diffusion beyond retail into higher education. * *
Engagement loops: A paid hour plus team‑led planning and brief, optional logging can create a cue–routine–reward cycle that supports autonomy, social bonding, and habit formation that teams can rally around (“Who’s in for Wednesday doubles?”). The mechanism (plan, act, post) is documented in simple internal explainers for employees, with privacy‑first guidance and no requirement to share images. *
Health and safety spillovers: Scientific literature links short, active breaks to reduced musculoskeletal discomfort and supports the social‑bonding effect of group exertion, benefits that can translate into fewer aches on the shop floor, quicker trust in cross‑role duos (e.g., sales + logistics), and steadier attention back at the desk, which should be tested against local baselines. * * *

Lessons for Global Team Leaders

Principle	Why It Matters	How to Translate
Make it paid, not after‑hours	Shifts exercise from “nice to have” to “part of work”	Allocate a fixed weekly hour; treat it like any scheduled task
Keep it opt‑in, employee‑led	Autonomy sustains participation	Staff choose activity, time, teammates
Favor low‑risk, high‑bond moves	Synchrony + exertion build trust	Badminton, table tennis, climbing in pairs, mobility circuits (avoid high‑injury or excluded activities)
Add light scaffolding	Planning and logging reinforce habit	Monthly planning prompt; simple post‑session check‑in
Open‑source the playbook	Culture spreads when easy to copy	Publish guidelines and kit lists; share your template as Decathlon did

Implementation Playbook

Decide the window and guardrails: 60 minutes weekly (or 120 minutes biweekly) of paid sport time; publish eligibility across contract types and shifts, confirm workers’ compensation and overtime handling, schedule outside peak service hours with coverage plans, cap groups at 10, name accountable owners (program, data, comms), and offer an equivalent quiet or low‑exertion option. *
Curate safe options: Offer a menu of low‑risk, non‑excluded activities (e.g., mobility circuits, chair or seated options, yoga‑style stretching, badminton doubles, table tennis), and allow higher‑risk options like top‑rope climbing only with certified supervision at employer‑approved venues and appropriate insurance coverage.
Designate “session captains”: Volunteers trained in basic warm‑up/cool‑down and inclusive facilitation handle the flow, keep groups to 8–12, and ensure mixed‑level, opt‑in play with a simple first‑aid and incident protocol.
Plan and nudge: Use your HR or engagement tool to schedule the hour and log completion as an optional 0/1 participation with date and team only; no photos by default, explicit consent for any images, and a 90‑day retention reviewed by Legal/HR. *
Start with duos: Pair roles that rarely meet (e.g., store ops + e‑commerce) to maximize cross‑department bonding.
Track a time‑bound pilot (8–12 weeks): pre/post brief surveys (psychological safety short form, belonging/identification, single‑item burnout), participation/opt‑out rates, sick‑leave days versus matched teams, and cross‑team help requests, with success thresholds (e.g., ≥70% opt‑in, +0.3 on 5‑point scales) and stop rules for safety incidents.
Share the “how‑to”: Publish a one‑page communications plan stating purpose, voluntary nature and opt‑out, norms, data use and 90‑day retention, anonymous feedback channels, and credit to Decathlon Polska’s WSB, then share a short guide to recruit partners or landlords with facilities. *

Common Pitfalls

Over‑structuring the hour (turning it into a meeting) drains joy and autonomy.
Defaulting to high‑risk or excluded activities (e.g., run clubs, cycling, archery) undercuts safety and policy.
Making leaders exempt sends the wrong signal: managers should model participation without commandeering it.

Reflection & Call to Action

Decathlon Polska’s Work‑Sport Balance shows, in a Polish context, how a simple, repeating hour can shift norms: when the calendar protects movement, teams take it, and take it together. If your people are time‑poor and desk‑sore, don’t add another talk‑heavy well‑being webinar. Give them a paid hour to move, pair up across roles, and log the habit with optional, minimal data. The social and physiological effects can support teamwork, attention, and a stronger sense of belonging.

Is your team ready to try? Pick one day next week, book a court or a quiet space, and appoint a session captain. In sixty minutes you can create a ritual that makes colleagues stronger, safer, and closer, week after week.