As part of ongoing research into the cost of staff taking days off work without legitimate reasons, a UK-based money saving website has looked into how often Britons are likely to take days off work that don’t count as annual leave, as well as the most common excuses given to employers.
Individuals were initially asked if they had, in the past twelve months, lied to their employer in order to take a day off work without a genuine reason, such as illness or bereavement, with more than three quarters confessing that they had done so. The majority of the guilty individuals admitted that their absence was due to a self-inflicted hangover they couldn’t admit to, with 23 per cent confessing that they had just felt like enjoying a ‘duvet day’ rather than a day in the office. A further 12 per cent admitted that they’d lied to their employer about why they were taking the day off in order to interview for a new job role.
When asked how many times during the past year they had used an excuse to avoid going to work, the majority revealed that it had only happened once, with 17 per cent confessing it had happened between two and five times. Of relevant respondents, only 22 per cent stated that their employers or co-workers had suspected them of lying in order to get out of work.
George Charles of VoucherCodesPro.co.uk who commissioned the research made the following comments regarding the results of the study: “Let’s be honest here, who doesn’t occasionally wake up and consider ringing in sick to work in order to spend the day in bed watching films and eating junk food? The temptation is there, but ultimately most of us drag our bums to the office to fulfil our duties and responsibilities.”
He continued: “The fact that those who did admit lying to their employers are most likely to blame an absence on diarrhoea or a sickness bug makes a lot of sense. No-one is going to want the grisly details of a co-worker’s bowel movements and those kind of bugs tend to be 24 hour illnesses so won’t invite too many questions when they return to work the next day looking healthy and bright!”
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