Holiday Season Causes Spike in Absenteeism
When it comes to notifying employers that they are taking a sick day, some workers reported they are bypassing a phone call to the boss and relying on digital communications.
• Phone call – 84%
• E-mail – 24%
• Text message – 11%
When asked to share the most unusual excuses employees gave for missing work, employers offered the following examples:• Employee’s 12-year-old daughter stole his car and he had no other way to work. Employee didn’t want to report it to the police.
• Employee said bats got in her hair.
• Employee said a refrigerator fell on him.
• Employee was in line at a coffee shop when a truck carrying flour backed up and dumped the flour into her convertible.
• Employee said a deer bit him during hunting season.
• Employee ate too much at a party.
• Employee fell out of bed and broke his nose.
• Employee got a cold from a puppy.
• Employee’s child stuck a mint up his nose and had to go to the ER to remove it.
• Employee hurt his back chasing a beaver.
• Employee got his toe caught in a vent cover.
• Employee had a headache after going to too many garage sales.
• Employee’s brother-in-law was kidnapped by a drug cartel while in Mexico.
• Employee drank anti-freeze by mistake and had to go to the hospital.
• Employee was at a bowling alley and a bucket filled with water crashed through the ceiling and hit her on the head.
Checking up on EmployeesFifteen percent of employers said they have fired a worker for calling in sick to work without a legitimate excuse. Twenty-eight percent have checked up on an employee, citing the following examples:
• 69% required a doctor’s note;
• 52% called the employee;
• 19% had another employee call the employee; and
• 16% drove by the employee’s home.
CareerBuilder surveyed 2,696 U.S. hiring managers and human resource professionals and 4,384 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) ages 18 and over between August 16 and September 8, 2011.
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