Seth Shaw, VP of Sales and Marketing at LogMeIn discusses how small businesses can inoculate themselves against World Cup fever...

With the biggest event in the football calendar just around the corner, World Cup fever is flaring up... but for employers, World Cup 2010 absenteeism is a major concern.

World Cup 2010: Absenteeism in the workplace

A recent on-line poll by LogMeIn of users in the UK, Spain, The Netherlands and France since May 15th found that 43 percent of employees plan to be out of the office to watch World Cup matches that overlap with business hours. Many small businesses anticipate that World Cup fever will have a significant impact on them: 47 percent of those surveyed expect the World Cup to affect their employees' productivity, while 33 percent expect that unanticipated absenteeism will increase by 10 percent or more. Meanwhile, 53 percent of small businesses say they do not have any contingency plans in place to deal with events that could keep staff from the workplace.

Some tips to keep productivity levels high during the World Cup include:

1) Implement a remote working policy: Remote working allows staff to remain productive out of the office. Even better, research indicates that remote workers actually put in longer hours, so your investment is likely to pay off many times over. The rise in smartphones, tablets and notebooks has made it even easier for employees to be productive anywhere at any time.

2) Flexible working hours: This can be a great way to win more goodwill from staff. Allowing employees to work around the two hours they need to watch a game will keep them productive during the rest of the day.

3) Offer perks: If you absolutely need your staff in the office, why not offer perks that may make them choose to say in the office? This could be anything from an extra half-day holiday, to a good meal in a restaurant for all those who come into work. Those who aren't interested in football will also appreciate the reward for covering for absent colleagues.

4) Watch the games in the office: Allowing employees to watch the games online, or on a screen in the office, can create a great atmosphere at work and keep staff motivated to come in.

World Cup fever is going to be infectious, with loyal fans determined to root for their teams whether inside or outside business hours. Obviously, this can result in unexpected absenteeism when games overlap with work time. Having a plan in place can level the playing field.

For more information, visit: www.logmein.com/uk/welcome/worldcup

Seth Shaw is VP of Sales and Marketing at LogMeIn. Users worldwide rely on LogMeIn solutions for remote control, file sharing, systems management, data backup, business collaboration and on-demand customer support of PCs, servers, Macintosh computers, smartphones and other connected devices. Over 100 million devices worldwide have connected to a LogMeIn service.