The first Monday in February has been dubbed “National Sickie Day” since 2011. Supposedly, it’s the day on which the most staff absences can be expected compared to the rest of the year.
The reasons for behind National Sickie Day and its suggested spiked in sickness are varied, but are mostly thought to come down to a combination of seasonal sniffles, poor weather, and increased anxiety and depression.
Another potential contributing factor to this trend is the arrival of the first payday since Christmas which incites people to go out and celebrate over the weekend. Cue a hangover that lasts well into Monday…
So, should employers be preparing to juggle mass absenteeism and a dip in productivity on this coming Monday? Or can National Sickie Day be chalked up to another myth?
Data from BrightHR suggests the latter. The absence data collated through its sickness reporting software, utilised by 100,000 businesses and more than 1.3 million employees, suggests that that National Sickie Day is no longer a thing – nor has it been for several years. Let’s take a look at the figures…
On last year’s ‘National Sickie Day’, there was a 16% increase in the amount of people calling in sick compared to an average Monday in 2023. While that might sound like a considerable leap, it still only ranks 21st place in terms of days with the highest sickness rates.
If we cast our minds back to 2022, the sickness rates on National Sickie Day rose by only 3% – positioning the day as having the 30th most sickies during the year.
It’s worth noting that the Monday with the highest sickness rates in both 2022 AND 2023, was actually the second Monday of December.
So, it seems that National Sickie Day is rather a myth, although Mondays remain the most popular day for calling in sick, with them making up 30% of sickness absences.
Thea Watson, Chief Growth Officer at BrightHR explains: “The fact that we’re not seeing any particular spike in sickness may come as a relief to employers who would otherwise be juggling plunges in productivity and disruption to the workplace. We’re seeing a trend of less people calling in sick and instead opting to work from home. And whilst at first sight, this can seem a great antidote to lost productivity, the phenomenon of presenteeism shouldn’t be ignored… Absence rates are staying relatively stagnant, but it may be that they’re feeling pressure to be available at all hours to ‘prove’ they are working, but actually their productivity, effectiveness, and quality of work seriously dips.
“However, employers should look into the reasons as to why absences are usually much higher on Mondays than any other day. It could be that the ‘Sunday Scaries’ are giving way to increased sickness the following day. But by providing feel-good initiatives and fostering an open communication culture, employers can cultivate a more engaged workforce to combat the ‘Monday Melancholy’.
“If you believe an employee is abusing trust and taking ‘sickies’, or if your absence management software highlights patterns of concern, then you should have a conversation with them and find out what is going on, addressing the situation with trust, empathy, and support, before considering appropriate action.”
