BATH'S workforce is facing a major crisis as one in ten workers are rumoured to be planning to call in sick so they can watch the World Cup.

Concern has been growing in the run up to the football tournament, which begins at the end of the month, that absent workers could cost Bath's economy thousands of pounds in lost labour.

Many of the games will be shown in the middle of the night and football-mad employees are expected to skip work to watch England and other teams battle it out in Japan during the month-long competition.

Of particular concern is England's match against their old rivals Argentina, who knocked England out of the 1998 tournament. That game is due to kick off at 12.30pm on June 7.

Earlier this month the trade and industry secretary, Patricia Hewitt, warned of the dangers faced by employers during the tournament.

She said: "Clearly the timing of England matches will be an issue for employers. The last thing they need is the entire workforce taking an unannounced sickie on the day of a big match.

"A good way to deal with this is for bosses to encourage flexible working during England games.

"It could be that those who want to watch the games come to work later and stay later in the day to make up time or they could come to work early and do some work before the game."

Law firm Trowers & Hamlins urged employers to be careful when it comes to dealing with employees who intend to 'pull a sickie'.

A spokesman said: "Employers will be tempted to try and deter employees from taking sick days to watch the football by depriving them of payment for any absences related to the World Cup.

"This is dangerous territory as even if sickness entitlement is discretionary or non contractual, employers could still face claims."

Employers in Bath are dealing with the issue in their own way.

Sainsbury's at Green Park, Bath said it is not going to fly in the face of patriotic fans who will clearly stop at nothing to watch their team live in action.

A spokesperson for the company said: "We will be allowing colleagues to watch the games during work time, at the manager's discretion and then make up the time at a later stage.

"Sainsbury's employs more than 142,000 people all around the UK so it is likely that not all employees will want to watch the England team.

"They will be allowed to watch other teams as long as they agree it with their manager."

A Bath & North East Somerset council spokesman said that the council is not making any special arrangements for its employees to watch the games, although those who work on a flexi-time basis can leave work as long as they make up for it later.

He said: "People who are under contract at the council must be available for work between 10am to 11am and 2pm to 3pm, but apart from that they can make arrangements to work at other times.

"Each department must come to an arrangement so that there are enough staff to do the work obviously we cannot have large amounts of people leaving otherwise we would not be able to function."

There has been concern that small businesses, who rely on few members of staff to stay open, could suffer more.

However, Barry Cruise, chairman of Moorland Road Traders Association, said that smaller firms were less likely to see employees bunk off for an afternoon to watch the football.

Mr Cruise said: "People who work for smaller businesses are more likely to be more friendly and, in many ways, more loyal to their employer.

"The real problem which affects small businesses on the major sporting events is the fact that everyone stays at home to watch it rather than going out shopping."

The chief executive of Bath chamber of commerce, David Keith, warned that, in the long run, a flexible approach by businesses could be a slippery slope for other sports-mad employees.

Mr Keith said: "The question is, where do you draw the line? If employers begin to negotiate with employees to allow them to watch the football, then others may want time off to watch the rugby world cup or the tennis at Wimbeldon.

"Companies have to be very careful about this sort of thing in the future."