And this Friday (23 September) is likely to add even more to this cost as workers decide to take a long weekend after the National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.
A new survey by Finder has looked at the cost of the “sickie’ to the Australian economy and of the 1,060 respondents, one in eight (13 per cent) — or the equivalent of more than 1.7 million workers — revealed they have taken work off for non-health reasons.
Taylor Blackburn, personal finance specialist at Finder, said employers could be facing a spike in absenteeism this Friday(23 September) and the cost of wagging work could cost employers more than $461 million in lost productivity.
“Workers are trying to take advantage of the bonus public holiday by turning it into an extra long weekend,” Mr Blackburn said.
“This is how Black Friday got its name in the US — with the Thanksgiving holiday always on Thursday, many workers would not come in on the Friday — hence it was a dark day for owner.”
Finder’s survey found 4 per cent of Australians have taken a sick day to take care of a pet, while the same number have done so to go shopping.
A small number of Aussies (2 per cent) have chucked a sickie to spend the day at the beach.
Mr Blackburn said good beach conditions can be a tempting reason to take a mental health day.
“Your sick leave should be viewed as a safety net for serious injury or illness in most cases, but there are times when taking a day for yourself is healthy,” he said.
“A few companies have created a new brand of leave to deal with life that isn’t strictly about running a fever.
“Finder introduced ‘Life Leave’ to give employees time to take a day whenever they need — for their pet, the beach or a family member — with no questions asked.”
The research found women (17 per cent) were twice as likely than men (9 per cent) to have called in sick just to “have a day off”.
An impressive 18 per cent of Australians haven’t taken a single sick day so far in 2022.
