20% of employees admit to calling in sick when they are not ill
Staying in bed, watching TV and visiting friends are how we spend our time on ‘sickie’ days
Download Printable Version
Approximately 20% of full-time, salaried employees admit to calling in sick to enjoy a day off, according to the findings of a Kronos absenteeism survey out today to coincide with National Sick Day. The first Monday of February is thought to be the most likely day in the year for employees to call in sick thanks to Christmas credit card bills, gloomy weather and a long wait to the next Bank Holiday. Over 70% of respondents would take a day off spontaneously rather than planned, with Friday the most likely day to take off. The survey was conducted by Kronos to help understand the extent of unscheduled absence in the workplace, not just on National Sick Day, and to investigate how this figure might be reduced if employers offered more flexible working patterns.
Employee absence has been a big issue in the first weeks of 2010 with snow forcing employees and employers to deal with unprecedented conditions. Over 65% of survey respondents were unable to reach their workplace at least once and 44% of respondents failed to get to work on 2-5 occasions. Over half (55%) of employees responded that their employers had a clear bad weather policy in place, whereas 22% of respondents were not sure if such a policy even existed in their workplace. Employers appeared to be flexible with survey respondents, with 80% of people given the option to work from home and only 15% of respondents were forced to take unpaid leave.
Sporting events are often blamed for spikes in absence and with the World Cup 2010 approaching, 58% of the survey respondents think it would be a good idea for employers to introduce some flexibility to allow staff to watch matches. At this stage though, only 3% of respondents said that they would consider taking time off sick to watch games.
The majority of people who admitted to taking an unofficial sick day spent the day doing nothing more interesting than staying in bed (39%). This was closely followed by meeting friends and relatives (35%) and watching TV (26%). Other responses included shopping, going on holiday and going to sporting events.
Employees gave many reasons for calling in sick to take a day off. Approximately 57% of respondents took time off as a result of feeling stressed and needing time out, 22% of employees called in sick when they had run out of annual leave, and 9% wanted to enjoy a sunny day.
The survey also suggests that unauthorised sickness absence has a negative impact on employees in the workplace, with 57% of respondents recognising that ‘sick’ colleagues impact productivity, leaving fewer people in the business to get the job done. Approximately 52% of employees highlighted that unauthorised sickness negatively impacts employee morale and 49% believe that it sets a precedent that encourages other employees to call in sick when they are not ill.
So what can employers do about the fact that so many employees are more than happy to admit to taking unauthorised sick leave?
The survey identified policies that employers can introduce to reduce the likelihood of unauthorised sickness. Employees suggested establishing “Summer Fridays”, with 62% of employees agreeing that they would be less likely to call in sick in the summer if they had the opportunity to work reduced hours on Fridays and make the time up during the week. More paid leave was suggested by 30% of employees as a deterrent to taking unauthorised sick leave and 26% proposed “Duvet Days” where a day can be taken off at very short notice. Approximately 26% of employees would like the opportunity to purchase additional holiday days.
Commenting on the survey findings, Simon Macpherson, Senior Director Business Development and Operations of Kronos UK said: “Although days like National Sick Day raise awareness of unauthorised absence in the UK workplace, it’s important to remember that unauthorised absence is a problem every single day of the year and costs the UK economy billions of pounds every year. None of us can afford to ignore the underlying reasons for employees taking time off, and as the survey highlights, employers ought to be considering the introduction of flexible working policies to help eradicate unauthorised absence in the workplace.”
He concluded, “Modern
timekeeping solutions are available to monitor and manage working hours, and to manage more flexible working contracts, so offering greater flexibility is no longer the administrative problem it once was.”