Employee problems of this nature are better dealt with in advance, something employers should be considering now in preparation for the World Cup. Employees should be told in advance to take time off, if they want it, as part of their annual leave. Alternatively, they could be invited to take time off now and make it up later.
If employers do adopt such policies, they should make sure that the policy is fair and communicated throughout the workforce. If everybody knows at outset what the position is, they can make plans accordingly and they have no excuses for doing otherwise.
Of today's launch, Sandy Duncan, Vice President of Xbox Europe said: “The future of gaming in Europe starts today, and it starts with Xbox.”
According to Microsoft, 20 games are available today and a total of 60 titles will be available by the end of June. More games are in development from leading publishers and developers including Electronic Arts, Infogrames, Sega, Codemasters, Eidos, UbiSoft, Activision and Konami.
Microsoft has faced criticism in the US for its Xbox marketing tactics. Despite a $500 million marketing budget behind the new console, computer games groups are concerned that the marketing preference is being given to Microsoft's own in-house games over those from third parties. Another concern is that Microsoft intends to insist that those using their Xboxes for on-line gaming must do so via Microsoft servers, even if playing third party games.