Off Balance: Getting sick of sickies...

OFF BALANCE hopes you’re all feeling better this week. Sorry? You weren’t ill? Then why did you call up work and put on that ‘blocked nose’ voice? That’s because 2 February was officially the most likely day for people to pull a sickie i.e. the first Monday in the month.

‘The combination of cold, wet weather and post-Christmas blues means that employees just can’t face getting out of bed’ opined employment law firm Doyle Clayton in its press release on the matter. You can almost hear the violins.

But that doesn’t mean someone has to be strapped down into their deathbed, the firms notes.

“Remember that just because someone is active on social media does not necessarily mean that they are fit for work, so managers shouldn’t jump the gun and automatically assume the worst. The employee may well have a good explanation for their posts,” says Doyles’ Rachel Reid-Ellaby.

Obviously Off Balance, coughing and spluttering, dragged its sorry carcass into the office – and we’re now in trouble with the boss for making everyone else ill. So don’t start me on the presenteeism tip.