Aussies feel no guilt when chucking a sickie

Far from the pangs of guilt bosses would hope their employees would feel when, "chucking a sickie," 25% of Australians say they do not feel guilty in the slightest when taking a day off and claiming it as sick-leave according it to a survey by Talent2, Australia?s leading recruitment and human resources firm.

38% of Australians are bludging work, reporting in as sick at least one day a year when they are actually healthy according to the 1,960 respondents to the survey.

Men are notorious for considering even the slightest sniffle as meaning they are dieing, so it might just come down to definition however females are more likely to take an illegitimate sick day than males with 53% of women saying they would take no sickies compared to 70% of men.

Laura Mabikafola of Talent2 says that chucking a sickie is a great Australian tradition. Anecdotally, Mondays are the most common day for people to take off, and the number of sickies increase during the summer months.

"No one is saying that if you are genuinely ill you should come in to work. Quite the opposite in fact with 76% of respondents to our survey saying that it bothers them when ill colleagues come to work, potentially spreading their germs."

"Many employees take a sickie not to go to the beach, or to have that extra hour?s sleep, but to fulfil family commitments such as school carnivals or look after a sick relative. A more family-friendly HR policy could help to reduce the number of sickies people take."

"People should not accumulate their annual leave and take sickies instead. Annual leave is designed to keep you fresh, interested at work and be available for those days you need off to keep your personal life in order."