More than half of Canadians say they’ve faked being sick to skip work

Canadian employers, those pitiful-sounding coughs you've been hearing over the phone before the long weekend — as staff members say they're feeling just a little under the weather and they can't make it into work — might be as fake as they sound.

More than half of Canadians, 54 per cent, have called into work sick when the only bug ailing them was the prospect of a long day at the office, according to a survey conducted by Angus Reid on behalf of the workforce management company Kronos.

The survey, entitled "Sick or Tired?" found that most of those who feigned illness said they felt stressed. According to the survey, the provinces where the highest number of respondents admitted to faking were Manitoba and Ontario. Those were also the provinces where the vast majority, 83 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively, said they've lied because of burn out and stress.

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Other reasons included caring for sick kids and a heavy workload. In some cases, employees who thought they had too few vacation days decided to sneak a few extra.

A small number of respondents, however, said they had better things to do than go to work. A fine explanation for your boss, I'm sure.

"Better things to do? Oh, well in that case, carry on."

This fall, another workplace survey published a list of excuses employers reported hearing from staff, according to ABC.

The best examples included an employee saying the dog was having a nervous breakdown, another claiming emotional upset after watching The Hunger Games, and one who claimed he forgot he had been hired.

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