Employees willing to stretch the limits of truth

UK workers told more than 1.4 billion lies to their bosses in 2004, according to a survey by online games website Cyberslotz.co.uk.

Of the 500 respondents, 68 per cent admitted telling untruths at least once a week.

‘Pulling a sickie’ and lying about reasons for arriving late, were the most common untruths told by employees, with 37 per cent opting for ‘the train was cancelled’, ‘the car wouldn’t start’, or saying a family pet had died.

Those who admitted to lying were covering up activities they believed would affect their career progression, including:

– drinking too much after work (20 per cent)

– gambling (16 per cent)

– a fling with a colleague (9 per cent)

– being in an open relationship (5 per cent)

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– losing their driving licence (2 per cent)

– being arrested (4 per cent).