More Employers Firing Employees Who Lie About Being Sick

A recent CareerBuilder survey found that more workers are calling in sick when they aren’t – 40 percent of workers have called in sick in the last 12 months when they weren’t, compared to 35 percent in 2016.

However, employers aren’t turning a blind eye to this increase in absenteeism. Over a third of employers (38 percent) have checked up on a worker who called in sick to make sure he or she was actually sick, and 26 percent have fired a worker for calling in sick with a fake excuse (up from 22 percent last year). Forty-three percent have caught an employee lying about being sick by checking out their social media posts, up from 34 percent last year.

When checking up on an employee who called in sick, 64 percent of employers required a doctor’s note, 46 percent called the employee, 25 percent had another worker call the employee, and 22 percent drove by their house or apartment.

What Does This Mean For You?

Encourage your employees to be honest with you about their needs. Sometimes an employee might not be physically ill, but needs a mental health day. Giving employees the support they need to maintain a healthy work-life balance not only benefits them, it can benefit your business too. Companies that promote a healthy work-life balance may see increased productivity, employee engagement and satisfaction.

What to learn more about vacation policies? Check out great vacation policies: ideas, tips and advice.