John MacDonald: Does taking more sick leave mean we're sicker or slacker? - Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

There are two types of people in this world.  

There are the ones who have no qualms calling in sick, when they’re not. The ones who feel no guilt at all pulling a sickie. And it seems there is no shortage of them, with this report out today saying that New Zealand workers are taking more sick leave, costing the economy $4 billion. 

Then you’ve got the other type, who only use their sick leave if they really, really have to. And I’m in that camp. 

If I ever have to have a sick day, I hate it. I know “hate” is a strong word, but I don’t like it. 

I was crook a few weeks back and needed a couple of days off and hated it. Same when I was unwell at one point last year. Hated it. Not because I was unwell, but because I was off. 

And I’ve always felt that way. I don’t know if it’s because I feel like I’m letting people down or feeling bad for being a no-show. Or fear of missing out. Or good old Catholic guilt. 

I don’t know what it is, but that’s just me. 

So don’t go blaming me for these new numbers out today, showing that we are taking way more sick leave than we used to. Because I’m not one of your “pull a sickie” types. 

And maybe that’s why, at various points during my working life, I’ve looked a bit sideways at some people who seem to take sickies at the drop of a hat. 

The Southern Cross Workplace Wellness report out today is blaming the increased number of sick days on the Labour government for increasing sick leave entitlements from five days to 10 days. 

Health experts aren’t so sure about that. They say Covid has made it unacceptable to go to work unwell and there are a lot more viruses around. 

But I think it’s inevitable that if more sick leave is available there’ll be people who will take the mickey.  

The report is based on 2024 data and says the number of sick days taken last year —if you add them all together— was 13 million. Up from a combined total of 10 million in 2022.  

The average number of sick days for manual workers was 7-and-a-half days and for non-manual workers it was just under six days. That's probably no surprise, given the chance of someone doing a manual job getting physically injured and needing time off work. 

The report also says workers in the public sector are having more sick days than people in the private sector. That’s probably not surprising either. Because, from my own personal experience, the public sector seems to be a lot more forgiving or encouraging of people to take sick days. 

Either way, people are calling-in sick more than they used to. Does that mean we are sicker or slacker? 

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