Why 24 August is the ‘sickest day of the year’ in the US

24 August. Wonder why it is of concern to the United States. It has been dubbed the “sickest day of the year”. What does that mean? Turns out not all is well with Americans. More people call in sick to work on 24 August than any other day of the year. Is it because infections are on the rise or are people feigning illness ? If so, why on this particular day? New research by leave management firm Flamingo Leave Tracker looked at data from five years to study the most common days workers in the US take a sick day off. “The sunny days of late summer showed a more significant drop in attendance than the frosty winter months typically associated with colds and the flu,” they found. The winner of sick days 24 August emerged as the winner of ‘sick days’. Around 300 businesses with over 10,000 employees participated in the study. An average of 0.9 employees did not come to work on the day, which was higher than any other day in the year. The second ‘sickest day of the year’ is 13 February. While winter respiratory illnesses are common during this time, it also aligns with Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl, the annual league championship game of America’s National Football League. The other days when most workers stayed home because of illness were 25 October, 13 December, and 18 April, according to Flamingo’s report. Also read: No more fake sick leaves? New AI tool can find out if people are sick from the tone of their voice Stomach bugs to COVID, the reasons for sick leaves The most common reasons to skip work among workers were stomach bugs, food poisoning, diarrhoea, and vomiting, accounting for 54 per cent of the leaves. Twenty-five per cent of the workforce surveyed took sick leave because of COVID-19, nine per cent because of anxiety or stress and six per cent because of injuries and broken bones. The result, however, was unexpected. “When we found that the sickest day of the year is in fact in August, it was quite a surprising result,” David Hehenberger, founder of Flamingo Leave Tracker, told the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), an American HR association. It is unclear though why most people call in sick on 24 August since no major holidays fall in that week. [caption id=“attachment_13036062” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Stomach bugs and food poisoning are one of the most common reasons for sick leave. Pixabay[/caption] The research comes at a time when the US is seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases with US president Joe Biden urging citizens to get a booster shot . “As the news has recently reported, cases in the US have risen. Businesses still should expect to see absences in the workplace due to COVID-19 over the coming months,” Hehenberger cautioned. But it is not just this summer, the coronavirus largely impacts the workplace. According to him, a quarter of sick days taken over the last five years are as employees are affected by COVID. Taking time off for mental health It’s not physical ailments alone. In recent years, more and more employees in the US are also taking time off work because of mental health. [caption id=“attachment_13036072” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Mental health-related leaves are on the rise in the US. Pixabay[/caption] Paaras Parker, chief human resources officer at payroll software company Paycor, told Bloomberg that her firm saw a rise in workers taking mental health days, staying home with anxiety or stress-related conditions. “It’s not necessarily that they have strep or a fever, but that they need a day for themselves,” she said. The WFH factor The Bloomberg report points to another survey by WFH Research, which reveals that those feeling ill and without the option to work remotely are twice as likely to come to the office with symptoms than their counterparts. With more and more bosses stressing the return to work , these places become breeding grounds for viruses and illnesses like influenza and the common cold. [caption id=“attachment_13036082” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] People prefer to work from home when under the weather, say experts. Pixabay[/caption] According to Jeff Levin-Scherz, a population health leader at insurance company WTW, formerly Willis Towers Watson, people are more comfortable working from home when unwell. “If they feel well enough to work, they can feel more comfortable knowing they’re not going to pass anything to anybody else,” he told Bloomberg. He said that companies that want their employees to come to the office should check air quality and follow other practices that were put into place during the pandemic. These might encourage people to turn up. He added that “perks like access to healthy food and exercise facilities could serve a dual purpose of boosting employee health as well as office attendance”, the report says. According to the Flamingo survey, a majority (54 per cent) of employees use text, WhatsApp, or Slack to inform their boss that they will be taking time off. A third (33 per cent) make a call, while 12 per cent email. And about two per cent don’t care to inform their superiors. With inputs from agencies