Now that she has a few people working under her, Girlawhirl has noticed a few things. Like when the temperature drops, more and more employees begin taking sick days. She certainly understands being ill and the need to recuperate at home – plus it keeps the bug from spreading around the office. But some employees seem to be sick way more often then others, and the more days they call out, the more outrageous their alibis and excuses become, leaving Girlawhirl to wonder who's really sick, and who's just pretending…
It seems Girlawhirl's not alone in her suspicions. In “15 Excuses for Calling in Sick” Richard Castellini, Senior Career Adviser for CareerBuilder.com, says 32 percent of workers admit they called in sick when they really weren't during the last year. But that's actually down from 43 percent in 2005 according to the article.
The most common reason for faking a sick day: needing to relax. Castellini says other top reasons for staying home include catching up on sleep, running errands, doctor's appointments and plans with family and friends. But employees should think twice before feigning sickness. According to Castellini, half of the employers surveyed said they've caught employees in a lie, and 27 percent have fired them for it.
Girlawhirl's not sure what she'll do the first time she's presented with concrete evidence of one of her employee's dishonesty. She didn't know super-sleuth was part of her job description. For now, she thinks she'll just have to look at each unwarranted sick day individually. But she's quite sure she'll be able to see through excuses like, “a buffalo escaped from the game reserve and kept charging the employee every time she tired to go to her car…”