We’ve all called in sick at one time or another to squeeze out more vacation days from our employees. God knows I’ve never done so (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) but some of you other reprobates out there certainly have.
Spread across the course of a year, such sick day abuse isn’t a major concern for most companies. As long as everyone doesn’t call in on the same day, I suppose it’s manageable.
Such a scenario, however, is becoming a serious concern for many employers in Europe as the World Cup approaches. In fact, fears of numerous employees calling in sick to watch the matches has prompted one Dutch company to offer insurance to protect employers against such a possibility. When the European Championships were last held in 2004, Dutch companies recorded a “sickness” increase of 20% on the days the Dutch team was playing.
I’d love to be sitting in HR on those days, listening to one hooligan after another call in and fake an illness. Knowing your company’s insured is only going to exasperate the situation.