Diarmuid Deeney, head of employment law at the Sheffield office of commercial law firm Halliwells, said that workers are finding more ways than ever to try and pull the wool over employers' eyes:

"It seems that helping workers to throw a sickie is becoming a business in itself, particularly on the worldwide web," he said.

"We are aware of at least one website offering 'fake sick notes' at a cost of £24.99. Of course, they include a brief obligatory 'warning' that they are for novelty use only – while at the same time displaying testimonials from customers who claim to have skipped work by using the fake copies. Unbelievably, the site even offers tips on how to 'throw a sickie', and what excuses can be used.

"Worryingly for employers, great care is taken to make the notes look as authentic as possible, even boasting an 'official' NHS-style doctor's stamp.

"Sick days cost UK businesses billions, and people who use the notes could be committing fraud," Deeney warned.

He continued: "The problem for the employer however is that there is generally no entitlement to look behind a sick note. Questioning its validity may breach mutual trust and confidence and even give grounds for the employee to claim constructive dismissal. The end result is that management is left with an even more difficult task of protecting the interests of the business."

Deeney's advice comes hot on the heels of figures released in July by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, which showed that the average cost of absence is now £666 per employee, up from the 2007 figure of £659.

More than eight out of ten people responding to the CIPD survey said that absence is a significant or very significant cost to their organization. Yet despite this finding it appears that only 40% of respondent organisations monitor the cost of absence.

The public sector remains the worst hit by absenteeism with an average of 9.8 days per employee per year.

Across all sectors employee absence was down slightly to 8 days compared to last years 8.4 days. Despite the decrease in absentee levels related costs have increased, and this could be attributed to harder economic conditions which are likely to punish companies more for a loss in productivity.

More:
Appointments
Business
Business Calendar
News