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Over £300 million is being lost in productivity as employees indulge in an online flutter at work.

According to new figures released by business and technology consultancy Morse, online gambling is costing businesses £306,236,140 each year. The company surveyed 664 office workers and found that almost a third (30 per cent) said that they had placed a bet online during office hours or knew a colleague who had. The typical online gambler was most likely to be male (38 per cent) and almost half (46 per cent) were aged 25-34.

Philip Wicks, consultant at Morse said that unmonitored access to the internet and the explosion of gambling websites had tempted people to bet online.

'However these bets all add up and can greatly impact businesses productivity. With online gambling set to rise by 22 per cent this year, it is clear businesses can no longer turn a blind eye to their employees' recreational

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activities,' said Wicks. 'Instead they must look at methods that will control this addiction, starting with creating an internet usage policy that must be adhered to and enforced.'

According to the report, carried out by TNS OnlineBus, online gambling is stunting efficiency in the workplace with workers spending a day and half a year making bets. Morse said that most businesses do not have the same disciplinary action in place for online gambling as they do for taking unnecessary time off. Morse said companies' policies needed to be updated to counter this problem.

The research also revealed that office workers that gamble online are spending 11.6 per cent of their average weekly salary on online gambling. This is compared to the average UK household spending 6.4 per cent of their weekly wage on fresh vegetables and 5.2 per cent on fresh fruit.

'Businesses need to decide if it is acceptable for their office workers to place a quick bet online, and if so, where they will draw the line and decide if it is impacting on productivity,' said Wicks. 'However for those who do not deem this as acceptable, enforcing rules and regulations needn't be the headache that they predict.'

He said that by using a combination of education and putting controls in place to monitor and enforce Internet policies, and through logging Internet activity, businesses can ensure they are protected with a minimum of fuss and effort. 'If needed, such logs can also be used in the future to support HR in a disciplinary proceeding,' he added.