The UK’s only recruitment agency review site has noted a trend in the days that employees are likely to pull a sickie with 34% opting for the Monday and 26% choosing a Friday, the main reason being that they are too hung over to work.
A recent study has found that Monday was the day that most people were likely to pull a sickie, with 1 in 3 admitting that they would be more inclined to call in “ill” on this day. Of these, 34% said that the reason for picking a Monday was that it tended to be the quietest day in work, whilst just under half said that they thought they were more likely to get away with it.
The UK’s only recruitment agency review site www.HireScores.com commissioned research of the British public and found that employees are more likely to pull a sickie on a Monday or a Friday to make way for a long weekend.
The site polled 1,744 members of the British public to see whether there was any correlation with the days people were most likely to take off without booking paid holiday.
One in 4, 26% said that they were most likely to pull a sickie on a Friday so that they can start their weekend early. 41% said that they were more likely to go out on a Thursday than any other weekday night, and were often hung over on the Friday. Whilst 1 in 10 said that they just didn’t like working on Fridays.
Wednesday was the day that people were least likely to take a day off work, with 38% stating that it was the day that they liked most at work. 1 in 4 said that it was the day when they actually felt the most proactive. 35% of those polled said that they pulled a sickie because they didn’t think they would be able to get the time off if they requested it the right way, whilst 1 in 10 didn’t want it to be taken out of their paid holiday.
Of those who worked on weekends, just over half said that they were more likely to pull a sickie on a Sunday.
Being hung over was the biggest reason for those polled taking a day off, with 89% of those who said they ‘pulled sickies’ saying that they would for this reason. 53% said that they would take the time off to spend the day with their partner, whilst 47% said that they just couldn’t be bothered to work.
Top reasons for pulling a sickie:
- Hangover – 89%
- Tired/Late night – 68%
- Stay with a partner – 53%
- Holiday – 49%
- Cannot be bothered – 47%
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Lisette Howlett, Managing Director of HireScores.com said; “The next time you look around the office on a Monday or Friday and it seems light on the ground, now you’ll know why!
“On a serious note, this no doubt costs British employers a huge amount of money, especially in terms of lost productivity and the loss of morale of co-workers who know that their co-workers sickness absence is not genuine. Unfortunately, these results are suggesting the sickie really does seem to be somewhat of an institution. Whilst dealing with one off, single day absences can appear quite challenging to managers statistics like these suggest that there may be a good reason to take action – perhaps tying out a more creative solution is the way forward.”
