Which off-work excuses do bosses believe?

Maybe you're genuinely ill; maybe you simply overdid it at the pub last night and can't face going in to work. Either way, you're going to have to persuade the boss that you need the day off.

But if you think your claims to be suffering from a migraine will cut it, think again: new research shows that bosses are deeply cynical about practically every excuse under the sun.

According to a survey by AXA PPP Healthcare, only 22% of bosses are prepared to accept a migraine as a good reason for a day off - indeed, even the common cold is seen as a better excuse, accepted by 24%.

But the most-believed excuse is, surely, the one that's most often a fake. More than four in ten bosses said they'd accept flu as a valid reason for taking time off work - despite the fact that the average adult only gets flu once every five years.

The survey found, worryingly, that employers are less sympathetic when it comes to mental health issues. Stress and depression were accepted as valid excuses by only 35%, and anxiety by just 25%.

And workers appear to have an instinctive grasp of this fact, with a poll revealing that they are much more likely to lie to their boss about the reason for taking time off if their illness is related to mental rather than to physical health.
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While around three quarters say they would tell their boss the truth if their sickness was due to a physical ailment such as back pain, flu or an accidental injury, only two in five would be honest about the reason if they had to call in sick due to stress, anxiety or depression.

Employees of small firms are even more cautious: while 44% of workers in larger companies said they would tell their boss if they were taking time off due to stress, anxiety or depression, only 37% of those working in small companies said they would do the same.

"With managers showing so little understanding of or support for employees suffering from illness, it's not difficult to see why employees worry about phoning in sick," says Glen Parkinson, SME director for AXA PPP Healthcare.

"Employers need to challenge this blinkered attitude, both for their own benefit as well as that of their employees."

Most worryingly, 7.7% of bosses say they wouldn't accept as valid any of the suggested reasons for a day off - a trifle harsh by any standards.

Sometimes, of course, excuses really are unbelievable. Last year, Careerbuilder compiled a list of the worst examples that employers had ever seen. These ranged from the employee who had a gallstone they wanted to heal holistically to the worker who set their uniform on fire by putting it in the microwave to dry and the man who'd had a 'lucky night' and didn't know where he was in the morning.

If you do want a job where your excuse is likely to be accepted, you probably want to head for the public sector. While private sector employees took an average of 5.5 days off sick last year, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the figure's 7.9 days for the public sector.

And there are good reasons for employers to give time off where an employee is genuinely sick. Research carried out by the University of Arizona in 2013 revealed that when someone comes to work sick, an astonishing half of the commonly-touched surfaces in the office will become infected with the virus by lunchtime.

These include telephones, desktops, tabletops, doorknobs, photocopier and lift buttons, along with the office fridge.

"In many cases it is more productive for an employee to take a day off to recover from a spell of illness rather than to come into work, with diminished productivity and, for likes of colds and flu, the potential to spread their illness to workmates," says Parkinson.

"Employers need to trust employees to take the appropriate time off sick and, where practicable, consider allowing them to work from home. Showing sympathy and flexibility when employees are unwell is crucial to maintaining a healthy and committed workforce, which in the long term creates a healthier business."

Proportion of 1,000 employers agreeing what's reason enough for to take time off work (source: AXA PPP Healthcare)
Flu: 41.6%
Back pain 38.5%
Injury caused by accident 38.2%
Stress: 35.4%
Elective surgery: 35.2%
Depression: 34.5%
Anxiety: 25.40%
Common cold: 23.8%
Migraine: 21.7%
None of the above: 7.7%

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