There could be more people calling in sick, what with the holiday coming up and all. And they are probably aren’t feeling under the weather. Their reasoning should be interesting.
Rather than take a personal day off, some people are compelled to use up any remaining sick days allocated for the soon-to-end year, regardless of health. “I think that’s how you view it if you’re 25 years old,” says business consultant Garrison Wynn.
The more creative ones will have good excuses. A check by CareerBuilder dug up some of the better reasons people have given.
A bear was in employee's yard, and they were afraid to come outEmployee's phone exploded, and it hurt their handEmployee ate a toothpick in his food at restaurantEmployee broke his arm wrestling a female bodybuilderEmployee called in "fat" because uniform didn't fitDog swallowed employee's car keys, so she was waiting until it came outEmployee left his clothes at the laundromatEmployee didn't have enough gas to get to workEmployee had to reschedule a manicure because some of her artificial nails fell offEmployee wasn't sure how the solar eclipse would affect them, so it would be safer to stay at home
More than half of Americans admit they’ve done it – called in sick when perfectly healthy, and Wynn says businesses just have to plan for that. “If you give them a number of established sick days, you have to give them a little leeway.”
The number of people calling sick is up 5% over last year, which could be an absolute burst of creativity or an indication of a health trend. Wynn thinks it’s legit, based on his constant travels. “I think I’ve seen more people sick, more people sick at airports, more people sick on planes than I have ever seen before,” he tells KTRH News.