According to a new Career Builder survey, 1-in-3 workers who call in sick are NOT really sick! That may not come as a shock to most people, but what may surprise you are some of the more unusual excuses people give for taking a “fake sick day.”
One person in the survey said they called in sick because they were too upset after watching the “Hunger Games” movie.
Another said they asked the boss for the day off because their toe was stuck in a faucet!
We also read about an employee who admitted he “forgot” he’d been hired for a new job.
And there’s a case of a worker who took a day off because they were so drunk, the sobriety device in their car wouldn’t allow the car to start!
What’s the deal with all these fake sick-day excuses? Rosemary Haefner is a Career Builder executive who says most people who lied about being sick said they just didn’t feel like going to work, and needed a day to relax. They also figured that the more detail they provided, the more believable their excuse would be.
But these days, that mindset can backfire because a growing number of employers are cracking down on people who take fake sick days. In fact, more than 1-in-4 bosses say they’ve taken steps to see if an employee’s story “checks out.” That includes calling the worker at home later in the day, asking for a doctor’s note, checking their Facebook page or even driving by the worker’s house, to see if they’re home resting.