In 2011, law firm ELAS published research which showed that the first Monday in February is the most likely day for UK workers to ring in sick. Since then that day, which this year falls on 6 February, has become known as National Sickie Day.
What do the figures tell us?
The most recent figures from the Office For National Statistics relate to 2021 and show that the sickness absence rate in the UK stood at 2.2%, this totals approximately 149.3 million working days lost and is equivalent to 4.6 days of sickness per year, per worker. In their 2022 Health & Wellbeing At Work Survey the CIPD found that 84% of respondents included Minor Illness (cold, flu, upset stomach, headache) in their top three causes of short term absence. Typically, these illnesses are the genuine reason for absence, but they are also easy illnesses to fake for those who want to pull a sickie.
Pulling A Sickie
With our many years of experience in HR, the CUBE team have heard all sorts of excuses from employees who want to pull a sickie. There’s the slightly disturbing, “I was having sex with a ghost”, the standard pushing the blame on the pet, “my dog’s suicidal” and the juvenile but honest, “I slept in and missed the bus and now can’t be bothered coming in”. We’ve also all been on the receiving end of the calls where someone gives an Oscar winning performance as they cough, sneeze and sound like death warmed up. For those of us who grew up watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off it became something or an art form and leaves employers trying to second guess whether the wool is being pulled over their eyes or not.
What Can Employers Do?
For these odd days and minor ailments, it is difficult for employers to prove that the absence isn’t genuine. However, absence can still be managed effectively through recording absence information, monitoring absence data for patterns and triggers, using return to work meetings and having a robust policy in place. Unfortunately, if someone thinks they can get away with pulling a sickie, they will. In these instances, an employer’s culture and practices can also make a real difference as to whether an employee attempts to pull a sickie or not. If there is a culture in which employees aren’t treated particularly well, processes are slack or non-existent and where poor attitudes to work are tolerated then it is more than likely that an employee who is of that mind will try to pull a sickie. On the flip side in companies where employees are valued, trusted and engaged the culture, working environment and mentality that creates is different. Staff are also less likely to try and blag a day off if they know that the following day they have to present themselves in a return to work meeting, look their line manager in the eyes and repeat their half-baked lies and excuses.
Proactive Approach To Absence
Some days, and for all sorts of reasons, people genuinely just don’t feel like going into work and need an unplanned day off to recharge the batteries and look after their wellbeing. Again, culture and processes are important here. Many businesses now offer staff a small number of duvet days that can be used throughout the year for such occasions, staff are paid for these days as usual and they don’t count as sickness absence, there’s typically a policy or guidelines to set out the ground rules and expectations. These days are important for staff wellbeing, they demonstrate to staff that they are trusted not to exploit such a benefit and by taking a duvet day an employee may actually be preventing a longer term absence as they use the day to recuperate and get themselves back on track. With the advent of increased flexible working arrangements some companies also allow staff to work from home on an unplanned basis if they feel the need and again this has similar benefits although employers need to be mindful of presenteeism. It can also be the case that an employee who isn’t feeling quite as they normally would is at the start of an illness and so allowing that time out of work may well prevent them from bringing infection into the office and could save your business from having multiple staff who are then all off sick together.
Whilst National Sickie Day may be seen as having negative connotations it can actually have a positive side. It reminds staff who are genuinely ill that they should look after themselves and take time off when they need to. It should also act as a stimulus for employers who feel that they have a problem with sickness absence to take a look at how they are managing absence and what if anything they can do to improve that for the good of the business and its employees.
Do you have any questions about todays blog, need help in becoming legally compliant with contracts/policies or can we support you in taking away any people pains to give you peace of mind?
If you answered yes to any of the above, just give us a call at CUBE HR on 01282 678321, or book in a FREE 30 Minute HR Health Check here FREE HR Health Check and we’ll happily give your business a full HR overview with our personal recommendations absolutely FREE!
Why not also check out our blog on a similar topic Sick Whilst on Holiday – What are the Rules?
We also have a YouTube channel with loads of handy videos outlining various HR related scenarios.
