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Workers crying wolf (or dog, or cat)

More and more British workers are using their pets as an excuse to pull a sickie. Around 400,000 workers a year claim they can’t go into work because their pet is ill, according to a survey. The figure is set to rise during the summer as workers plan to make the most of the warm months. However, bosses are wise to their employees’ schemes, with at least a quarter well aware that Tiddles isn’t quite as sick as a parrot.

Insurance firm MORE TH>N, which commissioned the survey, dubbed the phenomenon ‘Slowcombe Syndrome’, after Mrs Slocombe from the 1970s comedy ‘Are You Being Served?’.

Mel Everest, Head of Pet Insurance for MORE TH>N, said: “People really should think twice before making the sick pet call. For those people who actually own a pet, there will come a time when they really do need to take time off to care for them.”

One in two workers admit to being aware of the poorly pet scam, according to the survey. The statistics also reveal that two thirds of bosses (59%) say they are extremely suspicious of pet-related excuses. Two thirds (63 per cent) of UK bosses also report that their staff are more likely to pull unauthorised sickies over the summer.

The researhc revealed that Londoners are the most likely to skive with the help of a fictitiously infirm feline, while workers up here in the North East are the least likely to lie about the health of their pets for a free day off.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .