August 24 Is The Day When US Employees Take Most Sick Leaves, Reveals Study

Can you already tell when your employees are going to fall sick and take sick leave? Well, something of that sort does happen in the US.

Out of the 365 or sometimes 366 days in a year, August 24th is a date on which many companies already know that their employees are going to take a leave. And most 'will fall sick', like with a stomach bug or even COVID. That's as per a study conducted in the US.

Why August 24 Is The Sickest Day For American Employees

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Perhaps it's the inexplicable craving for a day off ahead of the big Labour Day holiday on September 4th. Whatever the reason, August 24 is when American workers most often tell their bosses they simply cannot work that day.

The other day workers typically fail to show up. February 13th, usually around the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day It's tough to guess why. These dates came from a study by Flamingo, a firm that helps companies manage employee absences and medical leaves, which analysed data on sick days taken by American workers over the past five years.

The second-sickest day of the year, Feb. 13, comes during the traditional winter respiratory illness season. The third through fifth sickest days of the year, according to Flamingo¡¯s report: Oct. 25, Dec. 13, and April 18.

Some 300 businesses with over 10,000 employees participated in the study, which found an average of 0.9% of those employees were out sick on Aug. 24, a higher percentage than on any other day of the year, according to David Hehenberger, Flamingo¡¯s founder, as per a Bloomberg report.

Also Read: US Startup Makes 20 Leaves Per Year Mandatory For Employees

What Reasons Employees Tend To Give

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People gave stomach bugs more than half the time as the reason for calling in sick, with the majority of sick-day requests mentioning symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea. These issues surpassed the coronavirus, which accounted for about a quarter of total absences. Injuries like broken bones and muscle strains, which caused 6% of people to stay home from the office, were also cited.

Beyond physical ailments, Paaras Parker, chief human resources officer at payroll software company Paycor, said her organisation observed a notable uptick in workers staying home with anxiety or stress-related conditions, which accounted for almost 9% of sick leaves in the Flamingo survey. "It's not necessarily that they have strep or a fever, but that they need a day for themselves," she said.

With employee burnout reaching a post-pandemic high earlier this year, workers felt emboldened to take mental-health sick days, which is a ¡°welcome change¡± in workplace attitudes, Parker said.

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A Man In China Loses His Job After Being Caught Holidaying During Sick Leave

Earlier this year, in April, a Chinese man was caught holidaying during his sick leave, after which he not only lost his job but also a mammoth amount of approx. Rs 73 lakh that he had received in compensation.

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