A new poll reveals that excess drinking is having an impact on rising absence figures.

Eight out of ten respondents in a poll conducted by employment law firm Peninsula and Portfolio Payroll admit to pulling a ‘sickie’ on a Monday morning following a weekend of boozing.

The problem was found to escalate following pay day with 80% of respondents saying that they tended to drink more alcohol at the end of the month when wages hit their accounts.

Nine in ten workers said that at one time or another they had faked an illness to recover from a hangover.

Danny Done managing director of Portfolio Payroll commented:

“We live in a drinking society and it is engrained into our culture. The problem is that the effects of excessive drinking has a telling sign in the workplace as it seriously affects concentration in the workplace and in turn productivity, safety and efficiency.

“But it is something that employers cannot control. Employees cannot be babysat and told how much to drink, the mere notion of it would be ridiculous and inconceivable.”

Done recommends that employers try to remedy soaring alcohol-fuelled ‘sickies’ by reminding workers of absence procedures and rules regarding disciplinary measures.