Employers on the lookout for World Cup sickies: Randstad

ARE you planning on some World Cup sickies to accommodate the wee-hours games? It might not be such a good idea ...

soccer mad mates Trent Cornish, left, Liam Scott, Matthew Luttrell, Damian Gill, Alex Luttrell and Robert Lapolla are ready for the World Cup telecasts

IF YOU’RE thinking of chucking a sickie the day after a wee-hours World Cup match, think again. Your boss will see right through you.

Recruitment firm Randstad warned naughty employees that managers will be much more wary of absenteeism during the month-long World Cup. Especially as two of the three Australia group games start at 2am.

So if you know you’re unlikely to climb out of bed at 7am after a three-hour snooze, it’s best if you take leave now instead of unfairly burdening your colleagues with a last-minute *cough* bout of whatever is going around.

Randstad employment analyst Steve Shepherd said: “We recommend requesting leave for the day after your favourite games, so you can truly enjoy them guilt-free. To not turn up last minute will be scrutinised and can damage your performance, productivity, achievements and reputation, particularly if you miss an important meeting or project deadline.”

Employers will be on the lookout during the World Cup to make sure workers don’t call in sick just because they were up all night watching the football.

Randstad, citing a Direct Health Solutions report, said 88 million days are lost to the Australian economy due to absenteeism each year. This equates to $27.5 billion in sick leave costs and lost productivity (other reports have put the figure anywhere between $7 billion to $17 billion). The cost of absence per employee, according to Randstad, is $2741 per employee every year.

Of course, if you’re genuinely not feeling well, you shouldn’t go into work. Presenteeism has been estimated to cost more in lost productivity than absenteeism.

Often, people who persist in going into work make themselves feel worse and end up taking several days off down the line rather than heading it off at the pass at the beginning with one day off. Or they infect other staff, resulting in more sick days overall at the company.

But happily, at least for nine-to-fivers, the first Australia game will be this Saturday morning at 8am, just in time to get out of doing the weekly grocery run.

Comment below: Have you organised leave to watch key World Cup games? Or will you be calling in a sneaky sickie?