Nipping out of the office for a game of tennis will no longer be considered bunking off under a government initiative to incorporate sport into the national working day.

Ministers are due to meet trade union leaders and captains of industry, The Times has learnt, to discuss ways that employees can be involved in high-level sport without jeopardising their careers. This includes being given paid leave to compete or coach.

Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, believes that employers could promote a more active lifestyle through their corporate social responsibility schemes. He will put his proposals, part of a broader Active England campaign before the London 2012 Olympics, to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and CBI in the next month. “A healthy workforce is a more productive workforce,” he said.

The idea harks back to the 1950s era of factory sports teams, when almost every company fielded its own football and cricket sides.

The corporate sector may argue that it already shoulders some of the responsibility for a fitter nation through subsidised gym membership and cycle-to-work schemes. And the City of London has a history of building state-of-the-art facilities; the Bank of England's sports centre in West London is now home to the Lawn Tennis Association.

But British companies are being called on to do more amid widespread fears about rising obesity levels in Britain. More than a quarter of children and young people will be obese by 2050, by which time the public cost of treating related diseases is forecast to have increased by £45.5 billion, according to government research.

Sports leaders have long argued that the Department of Health should contribute towards sport. “If the Government wants a healthy and less obese nation, it needs a more active nation. The strategy must have a central budget to go with it,” said Brigid Simmonds, chairwoman of the CCPR umbrella group of 270 recreation bodies.

Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, is said to be more sympathetic than his predecessors to sport's demand for a slice of the health budget.

Mr Sutcliffe said: “The obvious benefits will relieve some of the burden on the NHS and I hope that there will be an active response.”

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