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November 2006

32% of workers called in sick with fake excuses

Are employees getting away with playing hooky from the office? According to CareerBuilder.com’s annual survey on absenteeism, 32 percent of workers said they called in sick when they felt well at least once in the last year. One-in-10 admitted to doing so three times or more. And while some employers said they typically don’t question excuses given, others were more skeptical.

According to nearly half (48 percent) of workers, the most popular motivator for missing work was the need to relax, next was the desire to catch up on sleep (24 percent), while 20 percent cited personal errands. Other top reasons included doctor’s appointments (17 percent), plans with family and friends (16 percent), and housework (16 percent).

One-in-four workers said they consider their sick days to be equivalent to vacation days and treat them as such.

Comparing genders, women were more likely to take a sick day when they weren’t feeling under the weather: 37 percent of women called in sick with bogus explanations compared to 26 percent of men.

Workers who are chronic offenders may be running out of ideas. 41 percent of hiring managers said they have received unusual or suspicious sick day alibis. 62 percent did not believe them. When asked to share the most unusual excuses employees gave for missing work, hiring managers offered the following examples:

  1. “My mother-in-law poisoned me.”
  2. “A buffalo escaped from the game reserve and kept charging me every time I tried to go to my car.”
  3. The employee was feeling all the symptoms of his expecting wife.
  4. An employee called from his cell phone, and said he was accidentally locked in a restroom stall but no one was around to let him out.
  5. Employee broke his leg snowboarding off his roof while drunk.
  6. Employee’s wife said he couldn’t come into work because he had a lot of chores to do around the house.
  7. One of the walls in the employee’s home fell off the night before.
  8. ”My mother is in jail.”
  9. “A skunk got into the employee’s house and sprayed all of my uniforms.”
  10. Employee had bad hiccups.
  11. ”I blew my nose so hard, my back went out.”
  12. ”My horses got loose and are running down the highway.”
  13. Employee was hit by a bus while walking.
  14. ”My dog swallowed my bus pass.”
  15. ”I’m sad.”

This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 1,650 workers and 1,150 hiring managers, ages 18 and over, within the United States between August 31 and September 5, 2006.

Source: CareerBuilder.com, www.careerbuilder.com

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