In good company? People overestimate bad behaviour in others, poll suggests

People in six countries thought more than half of workers had pulled a sickie in the past year, but under 25% said they had themselves, Ipsos Mori found

Feigning illness to take a day off work is much less common than people think, according to the results of an international survey that suggests the public overestimates undesirable behaviour in others.

Averaging the results from the six countries polled by Ipsos Mori (the UK, US, Canada, Australia, France and Germany), the average guess was that 52% of workers in their nation have pulled a sickie in the past year, but only 23% admitted to having done so themselves.