Inspired by National Sickie Day; which took place last month, an IT company has released findings that show 8.6 million people pulled a sickie last year because they found their jobs “too painful”. Some said they felt overworked or blamed it on conflicts with fellow staff members.

The survey, which was based on 1,200 working adults, also found that nearly 12 million people went into work when they were genuinely ill last year, either because they couldn’t afford unpaid sick leave, didn’t want to use up a paid sick day or didn’t want to be negatively judged by their employer or co-workers.

On a more positive note, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the typical employee’s number of sick days fell to 5.9 in 2019 – the lowest in the 19-year history of its annual survey of HR professionals.

How LeavePlanner can help

Reduce absence in your office by implementing a system that actively tracks staff sickness. By making staff members aware that a system is in place for managing absence, ‘faking a sickie’ will soon become an action worth thinking twice about.

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