A SURVEY has been carried out by Instant prints and discovered 68 per cent of UK workers admit to calling in ill when they weren’t.

The excuses they found were beyond sofa time, they found spa trips, last minute shopping sprees and even a few ‘recovery’ pints.

For small businesses this trend comes at a cost, adding up to as much as £45,000 a year lost in productivity.

A new survey from Instant print for 2,000 workers has revealed that one in five women have pulled a sick day to go shopping, while a further 22 percent admitted they were just stretching out a holiday.

It’s not just women at it, overall, 68 percent of UK workers have faked at least one sick day in the past year. Common reasons included errands (35 percent), dodging meetings (14 percent) or simply just needing a rest day (41 percent)

Vicki Russel, Head of TX (HR) at Instantprint said: “These ‘sickies’ are rarely about skiving. They’re often signs that someone’s overworked, under-supported or too afraid to ask for a proper break. If people have to lie to take care of themselves, something’s broken.”

The survey which was carried out uncovered some surprising truths about modern work culture:

  • 63 percent of employees say they still work through genuine illness out of guilt
  • 44 percent feel pressure or judgement from managers when taking time off
  • One in five will only take a day off if they physically can’t get out of bed

Instantprint is now urging employers to rethink their sick leave culture and normalise time off for rest, not just for illness.

  • -Make sick leave policies inclusive of mental health
  • -Allow ‘personal days’ to reduce the need for excuses
  • -Train managers to support wellbeing, not police it
  • -Offer confidential return-to-work chats
  • -Signpost mental health support like the Printing Charity.

“This isn’t about being soft, it’s about building a workplace where people don’t feel they have to fake it to function,” said Russel.