Around 380,000 workers are expected to chuck a post-Australia Day sickies this year according to The Chronicle. This will cause employers a hit of more than $50 million. With Australia Day falling on a Thursday, many people will find it hard to resist the temptation of taking the Friday off to make it into an extra-long weekend.
Managing Director of absence management experts, Direct Health Solutions, Paul Dundon says that sick leave will jump by 42 per cent. Apart from travel and transport, call centres and manufacturing and production, it’s likely to affect every other industry.
According to DHS, being absent from work costs Australian economy more than $33 billion each year. Absenteeism increased by 0.9 days to 9.5 days per employee in 2016, at an average cost of $3608. DHS has predicted that the sick leave will rise from an average of 3.5 per cent of workers to 5 per cent this Friday. This will cost the Australian economy around $54 million.
"In total, with 10 million workers approximately in the economy, we are looking at about 150,000 extra work days," Mr Dundon said. "Each day costs on average $360 to employers. This means $54 million for the day.
A similar warning has been put forward by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which put the figure at $62 million.
ACCI chief executive James Pearson has urged the employees to do the right thing and apply for annual leave. He said misusing sick leave spoils trust at work place and puts extra pressure on colleagues and that sick leave should only be taken when genuinely needed.
It is said that having a cold is not the most commonly accepted excuse of a sickie. According to a survey conducted on more than 2500 employees, if you are planning to throw a sickie this Friday, vomiting and diarrhea will work as the best excuse. Migraine, stress, mental health issues and head cold received the least sympathy. Flu and ‘sick bug’ are also acceptable.
MOST ACCEPTABLE SICKIE EXCUSES
• Vomiting (72.9 per cent)
• Diarrhea (71.0 per cent)
• Flu (58.1 per cent)
• Sick bug (53.2 per cent)
• A migraine (36.5 per cent)
• Stress (19.0 per cent)
• Mental health issues (16.9 per cent)
• A head cold (11.4 per cent)
