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Latest News

Duvet days make UK workers lazy

by Personnel Today 23 Apr 2001
by Personnel Today 23 Apr 2001

A
report into why workers take days off blames the "duvet day" culture
for elaborate employee excuses. One employee said he could not turn up to work
because his rabbit was sick.

The
report, published by recruitment firm Personnel  & Care Bank, also lists excuses such as: My
toothbrush has worn out and I’m not going to work without cleaning my teeth; we
thought my father had died, but he was just sitting still; I have not got the
bus fare; I could not get a dog-sitter

To
avoid coming into work one employee said, “I have just found out that I was
switched at birth. Legally I should not come into work knowing my employee
records now contain false information.”

Rosalind
Payne Personnel & Care Bank’s managing director, said  “In England, everyone has 20 days paid
holiday which is not the case in the US. Staff must realise they have to use
their holidays for days off and not expect extra duvet days.”

More
than one third of British workers admit to taking time off work due to
tiredness.

Absenteeism
is said to cost British business more than 
£13bn annually.  

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www.personnelbank.co.uk

By Paul Nelson

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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Personnel Today
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