Australia Day sickies will cost us millions: 180,000 expected to skip work on Monday

UP to 180,000 people are tipped to take a sickie ahead of the Australia Day public holiday on Tuesday — a move that could cost ­employers up to $62 million.

CHUCKING a sickie” may be a great Australian tradition, but for the good of the country it’s time to pull our heads in.

Up to 180,000 people are tipped to take a strategic sickie ahead of the Australia Day public holiday on Tuesday — a move that could cost ­employers up to $62 million and leave errant workers at risk of being sacked.

NSW Business Chamber CEO Stephen Cartwright told The Daily Telegraph it ­estimated that was the figure ­bosses and managers could be shelling out for absences ­expected on Monday.

Mr Cartwright urged people to organise annual leave rather than call in sick.

“Sometimes (small businesses) have to close altogether if a number of staff all call in sick on the same day,” Mr Cartwright said.

“I know of a number of ­businesses who, as part of their conditions of employment, now require a medical certificate to be provided for a sick day taken immediately prior or after a public holiday. I think this will only increase.”

Mr Cartwright warned that social media also exposed workers to being caught out doing the “wrong thing”, potentially harming their reputations.

“Apart from being ­extremely unprofessional and unfair to both your employer and co-workers, if an ­employee is found to breach their duty of good faith when calling in sick there can be ­serious ­consequences — ­including ­termination,” he said.

With one web-based service now issuing medical certificates online for just $20, social researcher Mark McCrindle said it was now “mainstream practice” for employees to ­provide such notes before and after public holidays.

Cartoonist Warren Brown’s view.

“I can certainly understand the expectation of employers — nine in 10 businesses in that small business category — ­because that’s a cost straight out of the pocket of the boss,” he said.

Victorian GP Dr Sachin Patel is the CEO of Dr Sicknote, which connects patients with doctors online and provides medical certificates for $20.

Dr Patel said the service had 1000 registered patients and it endeavoured to make sure they were genuine.

“The fact is those small number of people who might try to rort the system do that already. That won’t change.”

Using Skype doctors issue sick notes — with reference numbers that allow employers to check their validity — for ailments including chills, earache, diarrhoea, food poisoning, nausea and sore throats.

The Dadd and Perica families enjoy a BBQ at Bronte Beach on Australia Day 2015 a Monday.