E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Getty Images stock
Are these guys supposed to be at work?
The United States has the Super Bowl, the World Series and March Madness, to name a few of the sports events that consume our attention for much of the year.
And yet, it turns out we may not be even close to the most dedicated sports fanatics out there. That is, if you judge dedication by a person’s willingness to skip work in the name of sports.
A new poll finds that Americans are far less likely to call in sick to watch a sports event, or recover from watching one, than people in China, India and other countries.
Harris Interactive surveyed thousands of people in Australia, Canada, China, France, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States on behalf of Kronos Inc., which makes technology for human resources operations.
The researchers found that only 11 percent of Americans had called in sick to watch a sports event. Just 7 percent of the nearly 1,200 Americans surveyed had called in sick the day after a sporting event to recover from the excitement.
In China, a whopping 58 percent of respondents had faked a sick day to root for their favorite team. In India, 48 percent had done so. The United Kingdom? Twenty-four percent.
Only France ranked lower than the U.S. among the countries surveyed, with virtually no one admitting to calling in sick to see sports.
The Chinese and Indian respondents were also much more likely to cop to calling in sick the day after a sporting event, with 54 percent and 41 percent, respectively, of those countries’ citizens admitting to taking a sports recovery day.
Even Canadians were slightly more likely than Americans to admit to that practice, with 9 percent saying they had done so.
The results had a lot in common with a more general survey Kronos commissioned last year. In that survey, seven in 10 Chinese workers admitted to faking a sick day for any reason, while fewer than two in 10 French respondents said they had done so. About half of Americans said they'd faked a sick day for any reason.
Leave a Comment:
I'm from the generation that shows up for work unless I'm really sick and that doesn't happen but once or twice a year and some years I don't miss a day at all. It's called a good work ethic. Those in their teens and twenties should try and practice it for a change.
Yeah, thanks for showing up and getting the rest of us sick due to your 'dedication'.
Next time take a fricken sick day. That's what they are for. You cost the company more money by coming in sick than you do by staying home sick. Chances are you're going to infect other co-workers, co-workers that know better than to come to work sick.
I will admit to taking a mental health day on a few rare occasions. Because most of the places I worked in my career did not separate sick leave and vacation, it was not something I did very often. To make the accounting simpler and avoid having any issues come up with things like this, many companies just give you a certain number of paid days off for the year so there is really no such thing as sick leave. Unfortunately, this served to encourage people to come in when they were sick so they did not waste their days off when they were not feeling well. The paid time off was all seen as vacation time so no one wanted to waste their days when they were sick. This resulted in people spreading whatever they had and the company wound up with a lot of people in the office who were not feeling well and working far below their normal level of productivity. They probably ended up costing themselves more in lost productivity than they gained through the simplified accounting and elimination of sick leave abuse.
Please don't go on to say that you have children as well and that you missed the majority of their lives because you are a workoholic.
Christian I wrote that I call in sick only whenever I am sick. Since I take care of myself that isn't more than a couple of days a year at most. If you are one of those people that calls in sick because they just 'don't feel like working today' or are hungover I feel sorry for your co-workers. They have to work harder to make up for your poor work ethic. And no, I'm not a person that opposes anyone going out and having a few drinks.
From as far back as I can remember, I used to skip school for Mets or Yankees day games. Then, when I began working full-time, I would take "sick" days off every year when the U.S. Open Tennis Championship was going on, AND I would always make sure I sat a few rows behind and to the side of the end-court cameras so I wouldn't have a chance of being seen on TV, or in a clip on the news that night.
On the other hand, when I lived and worked for a pair of abusive a-h0les in Denver, I would take sick days just so I didn't have to see her miserable face or hear her screeching voice. He, on the other hand, would take frequent overseas vacations (not for pedophile resorts in Costa Rica or Thailand or anything...), and would only show up 75 days a year anyway.
Short answer: I would have chosen two categories. lmao!
So far the only employers I have worked for say that death is the only tolerable reason for not coming to work. "If you're breathing, I expect you to be here."
I once played hookie for a World Cup game and the local news showed up to film. I was on the news with my head buried in my hands...
The artilcle states that "Gas prices are still a drag on people’s spending power", in reality it is an Anchor to peoples spending power. My wife and I have to commute, and with the price of gas, that spending power is being flushed down the toilet just to make a few people really rich. Most families cannot handle the price of gas. Last time it got this high it totally crushed our economy. And then they wonder why now we are sliding deeper into the recession. Duh. I cant believe the "brains" in Washington can't figure this out. Boo!!!!
Sorry, wrong post.
Occassionally I take a mental health day BUT I tell my boss ahead of time.
Me: "I'm thinking of playing hooky on Wednesday."
Boss: "We have two people scheduled off on Wednesday, can you wait until Thursday?"
I do this maybe once or twice a year just to have a day all to myself. I come back much more relaxed. If you're lucky enough to have a boss like that, and you don't abuse it, there's no reason you can't be honest. It also keeps them from being short handed. Too bad many don't realize this. For all of you bosses out there, are you listening?
Really tuckerdog. I appreciate your dedication but don't appreciate those like you who show up for work coughing and hacking all over the rest of us. So when you're working like a dog because five of us took off after you got us sick, then I can't see where your decision made a whole lot of progress. As a matter of fact, many companies strongly advise sick employees to stay home. There are a few now who don't allow sick employees to come into work.
I'm as dedicated as the next person but making co-workers sick won't gain me many accolades. Do your co workers a favor and get a flu shot and if you got sick days, use them appropriately.
Carolyn G I understand your point. I do take off when I am actually sick. If everyone followed that rule I'd be satisfied. I run a department and I tell my employees on day one that if you ARE sick then call in sick. If you aren't sick then show up for work. If you need a day off because you are burned out let me know in advance and I will give you a day off and schedule someone that will work. I realize that people get sick every once in a while. It happens. But when someone goes out and gets drunk and calls in with a hangover or just wakes up in the morning and just doesn't 'feel' like working that day. I don't tolerate that.