A workplace information expert in encouraging employers to consider letting employees work from home on certain occasions this summer, in an effort to prevent mass sick days when England is playing in the World Cup.

James Campanini, managing director of Cisco WebEx, said a careful balancing act is going to be needed if people want to enjoy the summer of football.

"It's about getting the home nations to enjoy this global football event while keeping a productive workforce – by using a high quality collaboration tool this is possible, whether that be working from home or in the office," he said.

A survey conducted by Cisco showed that 'food poisoning epidemics' are likely to break out on England game days, with many workers availing themselves of the most common excuse to get out of work.

53 per cent of British male workers have said their employers are not making provisions for staff to watch the tournament and that, if forced, 12 per cent would use food poisoning or a stomach bug as their excuse to watch the games at home.

It also found that 49 per cent of men from the North West, 40 per cent of Londoners and 32 per cent of men in the South West would try to reschedule a meeting if it clashed with their team playing in the quarter finals, semi-finals or finals this summer.