Who would have thought that calling in sick (without really being sick), get's a "day" named after it, but I learned today that it does, at least in the U.K. where the first Monday in February is " is thought to be the worst day for people pulling 'sickies' with up to 350,000 employees expected to ring in and make their excuses" (See this Telegraph article for a more detailed discussion of this "event").
Oh, and calling in sick apparently doesn't mean actually "calling" anymore:
"... a study indicates that bosses are becoming too soft on their staff, accepting emails or texts to say they are ‘ill’ rather than the traditional phone call.
More than a quarter of British companies trust workers who claim illness without speaking to them directly, making it easier for fakers to lie, according to research by Employment Law Advisory Services."
I'm not sure how many employers in Canada simply accept emails or texts as acceptable notice of absence without follow up, but I was surprised to read that it was so prevalent, according to the British research.
And what is the reason for this collective dishonesty? According to a poll, also reported in the Telegraph:
The poll found that 80 per cent of workers were dissatisfied with the average 22 days holiday entitlement and 35 per cent saw this as a reason to take unofficial days off.
All this highlights the need to have in place a practical attendance management program but also some means of getting at the underlying work-related issues.
