CHICAGO -- Have you ever called off work because a psychic advised you to stay home, or decided not to go to work because you thought your dog was too stressed out after a family reunion?
An annual survey on absenteeism shows 33 percent of workers have played hooky from the office, calling in sick when they were well at least once this year, CareerBuilder.com reported Wednesday.
While the majority of employers told the nation's largest online employment site that they typically don't question the reason for the absence, 31 percent reported they have checked up on an employee who called in sick and 18 percent said they have fired a worker for missing work without a legitimate excuse.
The nationwide survey, which included more than 6,800 workers and 3,300 employers, showed that nearly one in ten employees called off work because they wanted to miss a meeting, buy some time to work on a project that was due or avoid the wrath of a boss or a colleague.
Thirty percent missed work because they wanted to relax and recharge, 27 percent took time off for a doctor's appointment, 22 percent wanted to catch up on sleep, 14 percent ran personal errands, 11 percent caught up on housework, and another 11 percent wanted said they took off to spend time with family and friends.
Another 34 percent just didn't feel like going to work that day, the survey found.
Of the 31 percent of employers who checked up on an employee who called in sick, most -- 71 percent -- said they required the employee to show them a doctor's note. Fifty-six percent called the employee at home, 18 percent had another worker call the employee, and 17 percent drove by the employee's house or apartment.
U.S. & World
Among the most unusual excuses employees gave their boss' for missing work: