Could be a case for starting later.
Workers pulling sickies are costing the economy millions of dollars but a business boss says the answer could be as simple as letting staff start late if they're nursing a Christmas party hangover.
A Wellness in the Workplace survey show sickies taken by people who aren't really ill are estimated
to account for 303,000 lost days of work each year, at a cost of $283 million.
Some employers say it's a significant cause of workplace absenteeism, and one in five say staff treat sick leave as an occasional perk, the survey found.
The country's largest health insurer, Southern Cross, which did the survey, said while it was impossible to gauge the exact level of fake sickness businesses needed to look at workplace culture and how often sickies were happening.
The Wellness in the Workplace survey, which also involved BusinessNZ and Gallagher Bassett, found workers aged 20 to 40 were the most likely to take sick days for other activities. Those taking sickies were also more likely to be employed by large organisations - companies with fewer than five staff reported almost no workers throwing sickies.
