Employers in World Cup host nation Germany should grant their workforces the flexibility to down tools and watch soccer matches during their shifts, the head of a major workers' union was quoted as saying.

A German worker sits in a show room of a Berlin TV store and watches the opening match of the World Cup during his lunch break in a 2002 file photo. Employers in World Cup host nation Germany should grant their workforces the flexibility to down tools and watch soccer matches during their shifts, the head of a major workers' union was quoted as saying. [Reuters]

With kick-off times for World Cup matches beginning as early as 3 p.m. local time, the chief of one of Germany's most powerful unions argued that workers should be given the chance to see at least part of the games.

"Employers should be flexible about working hours in order that their workforces can follow the matches," Frank Bsirske, head of the public services union Verdi, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper in an article on the paper's Web site.

Companies such as Adidas, which are sponsoring the World Cup in Germany, have agreed to allow their employees to watch the matches at their desks, the paper said. Others, like Postbank, are organizing parties for some of the matches.

The head of Germany's employers' association Dieter Hundt told the newspaper no uniform rules should be applied to companies but that each firm should be free to decide for itself what was acceptable for soccer-mad fans.

"Every company should find its own ways together with their workers," Hundt was quoted as saying.

"If there is interest in my firm ... then the current flexible working practices would allow football fans the opportunity to watch part of the match on television."

However, his employees would not be allowed to watch the games at their workplaces, he said.

"I prefer it if my employees remain 100 percent committed to their jobs and not with half an eye or half an ear on the stadiums," he said.