Can you run a sweepstake at work?
Yes. Workplace sweepstakes are a long-established UK tradition and run in millions of offices every year. The legal risk of a modest-entry-fee sweepstake among colleagues is low, but there are a few things worth getting right.
Is it legal?
Private sweepstakes run within a workplace are generally considered exempt from the Gambling Act 2005's licensing requirements, provided they are genuinely private (not open to the public), voluntary, and the organiser takes no profit from the entry fees.
An office World Cup sweepstake with a £5 entry fee and the pot split among winners is entirely within the normal UK legal framework for private entertainment. Millions of UK workplaces run these every major tournament without issue.
For a more detailed overview: Are sweepstakes legal in the UK?
Company policy
The legal position and your employer's internal policy are separate matters. Some companies — particularly financial services firms or public sector organisations with strict conduct rules — have policies about collecting money in the workplace or running competitions.
If you are organising a sweepstake at work, a quick check of your employee handbook or a brief word with HR is sensible. In most workplaces the answer will be "yes, that is fine" — but it is better to know before you collect 40 entry fees.
The most important rule: make it genuinely voluntary
In a workplace context, voluntary really has to mean voluntary. If a line manager organises a sweepstake and subtly (or directly) implies that joining is expected, the participation stops being voluntary and the legal position becomes less clear. More importantly, it stops being enjoyable — which rather defeats the point.
Best practice:
- Announce it as an optional activity, clearly
- Do not chase people who have not responded
- Never link participation to team membership, performance, or social standing
- Consider making it free-to-enter with a company-funded prize, which removes any financial pressure
Keeping it inclusive
A good workplace sweepstake does not require knowledge of or interest in football. The random draw is the great equaliser — anyone can win regardless of how much they follow the sport. Make this explicit when you announce it.
Consider the entry fee carefully too. What feels like a modest £5 to a senior employee might feel like more of a stretch for someone on a lower salary. A £2 entry fee, or a free-to-enter format with a funded prize, keeps the barrier low and participation high.
If some team members do not follow football for cultural or personal reasons and would prefer not to participate, accept that gracefully. The sweepstake is for people who want to take part, not a team-building exercise with compulsory enrolment.
Collecting money at work
Cash collection at a desk is the traditional method, but it creates problems for hybrid teams and anyone who is not in the office on collection day. For mixed in-office and remote teams, bank transfer or a payment app like Monzo or PayPal is more practical.
The golden rule — for workplace sweepstakes as much as any other — is that nobody enters the draw until they have paid. playdrawr's payment tracker makes this easy to enforce: you can see at a glance who is marked as paid and run the draw only when everyone is settled.
Tax considerations
Winnings from a private sweepstake are not generally subject to income tax in the UK, as the prize comes from other participants' entry fees rather than from a commercial gambling operator. HMRC does not typically treat sweepstake winnings as taxable income.
If in doubt about your specific circumstances, check with an accountant or consult HMRC's published guidance.