Employees tire first, running banner up this? (9)
I believe the answer is:
flagstaff
'running banner up this?' is the definition.
'employees tire first' is the wordplay.
'employees' becomes 'staff' (I've seen this before).
'tire' becomes 'flag'.
'first' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'staff' after 'flag' is 'FLAGSTAFF'.
(Other definitions for flagstaff that I've seen before include "supporter of raised standards" , "Pole for the standard" , "Arizona city" , "where colours seen" , "raising standards here?" .)