13 July 2015

What is the worst excuse you've ever heard?

Whilst the number of days employees take off per year is down almost a third over the decade to some 4.4 days a year it is still a disruptive problem if cases are not genuine as it affects staff picking up the pieces. The ONS reports:

• The main cause for lost days of work last year was musculoskeletal conditions such as back and neck pain, leading to 31m days off work.
• The next major cause was minor illnesses such as coughs and colds, with 27m, followed by stress, anxiety or depression, at 15m days. 
• People working in the capital are less likely to take time off, with a sickness rate of 1.5pc. 
• The highest percentages of working hours lost to sickness were in the East Midlands, Wales and the North East, at 2.4pc. 

Caroline Wood, co-founder of HR Heroes, said: "It's encouraging that sickness-related absence levels are falling and there are probably a number of reasons why.

"For starters, the work environment these days is arguably much more commercial, results-based and target-oriented than it was 20 years ago.

"Also, more companies, these days, will only pay statutory sick pay, especially since 2008. In other words, people can't afford to be off. This explains why the self-employed consistently have the lowest rates of sickness-related absence.

"In recent years people have also been much more wary of losing their jobs in an economy that is still uncertain. They see taking time off sick as taking a risk."

It might not be uncommon for someone to fake a sick day just to skip work, but some apparently feel the need to get a little more creative, according to a recent study.

In fact, the excuses employees give their bosses for missing work can be so outlandish that 60 percent of managers say they often don't believe the reasons workers give for being absent, according to a survey done in the United Kingdom by British health care provider Benenden Health. Bosses even go so far as to examine workers' social media accounts to see if they're telling the truth.

That may seem a little extreme but so are some of the things workers have said just to play hooky, according to the survey. Sex injuries, pet illnesses and boozy late-night high jinks all count as some of the most bizarre excuses bosses in the survey heard from employees.

Some of the most bizarre ones!

• Drank too much and fell asleep on someone's floor - I don't know where I am"
• My dog has had a big fright and I don't want to leave him"
• My new girlfriend bit me in a delicate place"
• The dog ate my shoes"
• "I've had a hair dye disaster"
• "A can of baked beans landed on my big toe"
• "My fish is sick"
• "I am hallucinating"
• "I've injured myself during sex"
• "My trousers split on the way to work"
• "My car handbrake broke and it rolled down the hill into a lamppost"
• My toe is trapped in the bath tap"
• "I've been bitten by an insect"

Why not e-mail us your best most bizarre sickness excuses and we will publish them in the next e-news.

If you do feel that short-term sickness is becoming an issue within your business, contact your BPIF Regional HR Adviser, Anna Stretton.