Bosses 'take a hard line on the World Cup'

More than one in five bosses in Britain were not prepared to let their staff leave work early to watch World Cup games, according to new research today.

A survey of 2,300 managers by Combined Insurance showed that those in Scotland were most likely to adopt a hard line.

Only 16% of those polled said they had made arrangements for staff to watch games in the office, with one in five insisting that work had to come first.

Nigel Brittle, of Combined Insurance, said: “Our finding suggests that if office managers maintain a hard line there may well be an upturn in sickies from their staff in the weeks ahead.

“This could prove much worse for business than allowing some flexibility for workers.”