SINGAPORE: Nearly one in five workers in Singapore
admit that they have feigned an illness in order to go on medical
leave, according to findings from an online survey by
JobsCentral.
And about half of these respondents revealed they
would do so three or more times a year.
A total of 3,299 employees and 256 hiring managers
took part in the survey conducted from August to October this
year.
77.7 per cent of employers said they would perform checks when
their staff is absent due to illness. But most of these employers
said they would rely on medical certificates to verify sickness
claims.
Only 12.3 per cent said they would call the employee to check,
while 5 per cent would go to the extent of asking a co-worker to
check on the employee.
As to the reasons why workers faked illnesses, most said they did
so because they did not feel like working. Another 30 per cent
cited plans outside work.
When asked to describe their current job satisfaction, only a
marginally larger proportion of workers who took bogus sick leave
voiced discontentment with their jobs.
JobsCentral said this suggests that employees who feign illness to
skip work may not necessarily be unhappy with their jobs.
Chief Operating Officer of JobsCentral Group, Michelle Lim said:
"The survey results show that there is mutual responsibility and
trust between employers and employees. A large majority of
employees are honest when it comes to taking sick leave and few
employers are so mistrusting of their employees to resort to
invasion checks."
Ms Lim added: "As for the healthy 20 per cent who used illnesses to
dodge work, they risk jeopardising their jobs and careers. On the
other hand, an overly suspicious employer or manager that
constantly checks on employees is also detrimental to work
relationships; few employees would tolerate working for managers
that do not trust them."
The survey also revealed that senior staff were less likely to take
bogus medical leave.
Workers with gross salaries of over S$5,000 were least likely to
fake an illness to go on medical leave.
- CNA/ck