Survey highlights hangovers and good weather as top temptations

More than a third (35%) of the British workforce feel that it is ok to take the odd day off work even if they are not genuinely ill or have a good reason with 63% of people citing a hangover as the top reason for being tempted to ‘pull a sickie’. Research released today by employee management software specialist Crown Computing, also found that people are most tempted to ‘pull a sickie’ if it’s a fine summers day (37%) it’s their birthday (34%) or they want to spend time with a loved one (31%).

While the average worker may deem the odd unauthorised day off work as harmless, figures released by the CBI say the problem of absence is costing British business as much as £11.6bn billion a year.

The Crown Computing research, conducted by an independent research house, amongst 975 members of public in employment, also asked for instances where people would be less likely to pull a sickie. The results included:

• More than half the respondents would be less tempted if pay was docked for each day they were absent.
• Four in ten people would be less likely if they knew their company was tracking their absences.
• A third of people wouldn’t like to attend a back to work interview
• A third would be less likely to take an unauthorised day off if they could work more flexibly.
• One in ten respondents said that nothing would stop them from pulling a sickie every so often.

Mike Hawkesford, Managing Director of Crown Computing said, ‘Our findings and those of the CBI highlight that individuals needs to be managed. While keeping an eye on absences can help identify trends and patterns amongst specific areas of a workforce, developing an understanding that you had a problem is not good enough, businesses need to manage absence as and when it happens.’

Crown Computing which helps companies to improve efficiences and optimise the use of the workforce through the intelligent use of technologies, also asked people about the reasons for taking unauthorised absence. The top reason was a hangover, with an average of 63% of respondents citing this as something that would tempt them to take the day off. The results varied by region.

Percentage of people tempted to pull a sickie because of a hangover by area:

Area	Percentage
Yorkshire and Humberside	73%
South West	73%
Wales	71%
Midlands	69%
North	63%
North West	62%
South East	61%
East Anglia	59%
Scotland	56%
London	52%

A map of the UK’s Hangover Hotspots is available on request

The findings are backed up by a survey by the CBI. In their research of senior managers and human resources professionals within public and private companies, it was found that:

• Absence rates for public sector companies have typically been far higher than their private sector counterparts, they take 2.4 days more absence a year (average 6.8).
• Short term absence is responsible for 95% of the total amount of absence and makes up 69% of the total working time lost.
• The top cause of absence was short term minor illnesses such as coughs and colds.
• Most employers think 30% of absence is bogus.
• Where senior managers take responsibility for absence the average days lost per employee drop dramatically to 5.0 days (7.6 days where line manager is responsible).

Notes for Editors:

The research was conducted by IPSOS Capibus.
The Confederation of British Industry website is at: www.cbi.org.uk

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