Almost three quarters (70%) of workers have been tempted to pull a “sickie” because of the recent hot weather, according to a new survey. The survey by employment law firm Peninsula found that 80 per cent of employers reported that staff pulled “sickies” last week as a result of the good weather and the May bank holiday weekend.

A major CBI/AXA report for 2007 shows that 172 million days were lost to absence in 2007 costing the UK economy £13.2bn. The average employee took 6.7 days off sick and it is believed that as many as 21 million of these “sickies” were non-genuine. Not only do these “sickies” cost the economy, they also impact on fellow colleagues who have to shoulder the additional work burden.

As HR professionals, what can we do to halt this trend?

Believe it or not, one suggestion is to use lie detectors to detect genuine sickness absence!! This might sound like “Big Brother” watching you but it is actually under consideration. According to a recent article ‘employer groups welcomed the idea of using the Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) system to tell when staff are lying when they call in to say they are too ill to work.’

A less draconian measure is used by Kellogg’s UK office. On 9th May, they began their annual “summer hours scheme”, allowing all employees to finish work at 12pm on a Friday between May and September, provided they have completed a full week’s work. This scheme is now in its fifth year and has proved a resounding success, reducing absenteeism and raising employee morale.

Whilst this obviously works for a company like Kellogg’s, it’s not going to be a feasible solution for all businesses and that’s where you come in…

We’d like to hear your suggestions on ways to reduce non-genuine absenteeism. Remember our best BLOG contributor will be awarded a BLT Hamper!