A new survey has revealed a big shame on sick leave in Australia and which employees are more likely to pretend to be on leave.
In the past year alone, 2.3 million Australian employees (18.5 percent of the workforce) pretended to be on leave, according to recruitment website adzuna.com.au.
The Adzuna's National sick leave Survey found that adding up the sick leave would cost as much as 823 million yuan in economic losses.
So who is the most likely to pretend to take leave?
According to the survey, employees in the PR, advertising and marketing sectors love "fouls," with 23 percent admitting to taking a day off pretending to be sick.
The financial sector came in second, with 23 per cent admitting to lying to sick leave, while hotel workers were Australia's most honest employees, with only 13 per cent taking sick leave.
New state employees are most likely to take sick leave, followed by Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Northern Territory employees. The state and capital territory were not included in the investigation.
The main reasons for taking sick leave include too tired work, boredom, job interviews, a desire to take cumulative sick leave, and the need to recover from hangovers.
Other common reasons are bad mood, mental health, fishing or surfing, and avoiding workplace bullying.
But Adzuna Chief Executive Raife Watson warned office workers not to overwork on sick leave, or they could really get sick.
"just last year, we had a terrible flu epidemic. If you run out of sick leave before winter, and then you get the flu and it takes weeks to recover, you won't be on leave. "
"if you want to take a day off, it's best to be honest with your boss."
Watson advises employees to consider them carefully when taking time off.
"if you have to take a day off and the deadline is imminent, you have to hand over the job to your colleagues," he said.
The survey also found that 12% of people pretended to take a day off, and the results were detected by the boss. 37.5% received formal warnings for their actions and 13% lost their jobs.
If you are not feeling well but are not serious enough to take a day off, it may be appropriate to apply for a "work from home" as a compromise, he said.
The employee should then prepare a home-based task list and submit it to the manager for approval.
If you do need to call in sick, he says, it is necessary to send all urgent work to another colleague through a short email to avoid unnecessary stress from your absence.
Finally, Watson says honesty is always the best strategy because being found lying can ultimately damage your reputation at work.
'most bosses will understand that employees need to take a break from time to time and honesty will enhance their trust and confidence in you,'he said.
