Amicus是英國最大的貿易協會之一，世界盃期間，他們為上班族球迷專門提供了一些既能看球，又能保住飯碗的建議。他們的這些建議遭到了來自僱主們的一致反對，並要求收回這些對那些大公司的老闆們“極度不公平的”建議。在Amicus的網站上，他們以“火熱世界盃”為頭條，給球迷們列出了一些如何贏得時間去看球的建議，大多數的上班族們會採取請假看球的方式，但是它指出這樣做是很危險的，因為總是請假，尤其是在世界盃期間，便會受到僱主的懷疑，他建議球迷們要仔細去研究簽訂的工作合同，去尋找在是否可以在靈活的工作制度下尋找到時間去看球，比如請求休假。另外，網站還説在某些情況下，管理者們也會願意去允許自己的僱員們去看球，這家協會能夠提供一些諮詢人員告訴你如何去勸説自己的領導同意下屬去看球，比如説大家一起在工作時通過大屏幕看球並認為這是一種提高團隊精神的好方法。還可以去看看能不能讓老闆同意你先看球再補上落下的工作或是找同事先替你幹手頭的工作。這些建議受到了球迷的歡迎，但是也有人警告説每年由於缺席工作造成的經濟損失已達到了1300萬英鎊。

　　鏈結：http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fblwc2006employersunionsbrit&prov=afp&type=lgns

　　原文：

　　British union offers tips about how to get time off work for World Cup

　　by Lachlan Carmichael

　　June 15, 2006

　　LONDON (AFP) - Amicus, one of Britain's biggest trade unions, is offering workers tips about how to take time off work to watch World Cup football without damaging their employment prospects.

　　The advice drew an angry response from an employers' group, which called on the union to withdraw the comments, saying that encouraging people to skive off work was "grossly unfair" for company bosses and fellow staff.

　　England has been in the grip of World Cup fever ever since the finals kicked off in Germany last week, with millions of people expected to watch the team's clash against Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday afternoon.

　　Amicus said on its website: "So you want to watch the World Cup, but you are meant to be at work when it's on: can you play away or is the risk of permanent relegation from your job too high?"

　　Under the headline "World Cup Fever," it said a worker might be able to take a sick day because it would be difficult to prove otherwise, though it proposed workers check policies carefully and co-operate with management.

　　"It is quite difficult to prove that someone is not really sick if they have one day off; and most sick policies provide for the employee to self certificate for the first day off," the union said.

　　"But if you have a few days off which happen to be match days your employer may well notice a pattern to your sickness which might be used as evidence that sickness is not really the issue," it added.

　　Anyone who is caught out taking time off without permission could face dismissal for gross misconduct, Amicus warned.

　　It advised workers to study their contracts and work policies to determine if they have the right to book specific time off under flexible working, lieu time or holiday.

　　"Your union can also tell you of any policies that might help you," it said, noting that it may even be in the interests of management to allow for time off under certain circumstances.

　　"Having a union negotiator can really help persuade management what a good investment it could be to find ways to let people watch the World Cup, for example allowing people to watch it together at work on a big screen."

　　Such a solution would offer "great team building" and would be much cheaper than an "away day," Amicus advised.

　　"Otherwise, see if your boss will just let you make up the time, or if any colleague would agree to cover your work and have you do something for them, perhaps outside of your normal hours," it said.

　　The union added that management approval would be required for this.

　　The comments received a frosty reception from Stephen Alambritis of the Federation of Small Businesses, who argued that employers were already allowing staff to structure working days around matches.

　　"They should withdraw that bit of advice from the web," Alambritis said.

　　"It's grossly unfair also on staff who are not football fans when they see a union advising their other colleagues to take a sickie," he told BBC radio.

　　Alambritis pointed out that absence from work already cost the economy 13 billion pounds (24 billion dollars, 19 billion euros) a year.

　　Another piece of research suggested that Thursday could in fact be one of the most productive days as staff increased efforts to complete their tasks in order to leave work early to watch the England-Trinidad and Tobago game.

　　"That's the way to view the World Cup rather than advice on throwing sickies," said Alambritis.

　　作者-于歡-北京第二外國語學院-英語系

責編：佟杉杉