Calling In Sick? Here Are The 10 Best Excuses Most Likely To Work

It seems that when calling in sick for work, the most acceptable ailment to bosses is… the flu, at least to a new survey by AXA PPP Healthcare.

The survey asked 1,000 business owners, managing directors and chief executives about what they viewed were serious enough reasons to call in sick, and flu was deemed as the most acceptable reason. Albeit from 42 per cent of bosses.

Migraine sufferers may have another thing to worried about though, as the survey found just one in five bosses viewing it as an acceptable reason.

The Top 10 Acceptable Reasons To Be Absent From Work

1. Flu – 42 per cent

2. Back Pain – 39 per cent

3. Injury caused by accident – 38 per cent

4. Stress – 35 per cent

5. Elective Surgery – 35 per cent

6. Depression – 34 per cent

7. Anxiety – 25 per cent

8. Common Cold – 28 per cent

9. Migraine – 21 per cent

10. None of the above – 7 per cent

There’s also cause for concern in the new survey, as employees have been revealed as six times as likely to lie about calling in sick if it was for mental health reasons, such as anxiety or depression.

"Employers need to challenge this blinkered attitude, both for their own benefit as well as that of their employees," said Glen Parkinson of AXA PPP Healthcare.

"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."

Employees reveal the most common ailments they’d keep from their bosses

1. Anxiety – 42% of employees would lie
2. Depression – 40%
3. Stress – 38%
4. Common Cold – 22%
5. Migraine – 12%
6. Elective Surgery – 10%
7. Flu – 7%
8. Back Pain - 7%
9. Injury caused by accident – 6%

[Images: Shutterstock]