Warning over euro 2004

Also, although employers won't necessarily face the same problems with Euro 2004 as they did when the World Cup was staged in Korea and Japan as the time difference in that tournament meant some workers bunked off in order to watch matches live – there might still be a problem for companies. There are some early evening games and of course the possibilities of a few hangovers and sickies the following the big matches. For companies whose employees work shift work there may well be a rash of dubious sick notes from football-addicted staff who would rather be sitting on the sofa at home watching the TV than sitting at their desk working at their computer or stacking shelves or driving that bus or train.

At the time of the World Cup Patricia Hewitt, Trade and Industry Secretary, said that staff should be allowed to watch the match wherever possible, and allowed to make up time later, "the last thing they (employers) need is the entire workforce taking a sickie on the day of a big match."

However, before you suffer a mutiny and find yourself the only person at work there are a number of things that you can try in order to minimise the disruption to your business.

Time off If you have too many staff who all want to take the same day off in order to watch the match then holding a ballot - with all the names in a hat and picking at random - might be the fairest way to deal with the issue.

Flexible working Allow staff longer lunch breaks, or let them come in late, according to the time of the match and let them make up the time later. Other staff might be willing to help fill in the gaps.

Provide a TV or radio If you have space perhaps you could provide a TV or radio and allow staff to watch and again make up time or allow short breaks to visit the TV room at regular intervals.

Set an internet/email policy Ensure that staff know how much personal use of the internet they can make - and at what times of the day.

Team spirit By allowing staff to wear football shirts, display wall charts, run sweepstakes and so on helps foster team spirit and earns the employer goodwill. Banning football is much more likely to dampen productivity and make workers resentful.

Equality Whatever policy you adopt you must ensure that it is applied fairly to all employees. For example, it might amount to sex discrimination if a woman employee was refused time off because she is a woman and it is presumed she didn't enjoy football. Or it could be race discrimination if an Italian or German employee weren't given the same opportunity to watch a match of their home country.

Explain the policy in advance Murray Fairclough, a senior employment lawyer who directs the legal advice to members of the Federation of Small Businesses said: "employers are advised to issue staff with an office memorandum, explaining the positive measures that they are taking to allow everyone to enjoy this summer's sporting fixtures. The memorandum should also advise employees that disciplinary action will be taken if they turn up late for work, fail to turn up at all on match days, or abuse alcohol. That way, employees will be in no doubt about the consequences of their actions. Finally, all employees should be told that if they phone in sick on key match days they must provide medical evidence, either proof that they visited their GP or a doctor's certificate."

Example policy

Here is an example of the policy of one company thatprovided staff with TVs to watch the World Cup games and they are now also applying to Euro 2004 - which staff were reminded about by email in advance.

• Any working hours spend watching a Euro 2004 game must be approved by your Line Manager in advance. You should obtain this approval in writing - email is acceptable.
• Viewing areas must be left clean and tidy after the match.
• No alcohol is to be consumed on site before, during or after the matches.
• Should any important issues arise during a game that you are required to deal with, these must take priority and you must respond in a suitable and timely fashion.
• Should you wish to take time out and watch any matches, the additional time must be made up either before, or after work. Any time taken out to stay at home should be taken as holiday and authorised as such.
• Any abuse of these guidelines will result in the provision of televisions being removed.

Murry Fairclough says: "a number of employees are bound to abuse the system and may be tempted to either phone in sick on match days or simply not turn up for work at all. The golden rule here is to try and take action to prevent this happening in the first place."