Fake Sick If You Want To, But…

This is not the economy to be trying to get over at the J-O-B. 

I amazed at the number of people who play Russian Roulette with their jobs with social media and general carelessness

Didn’t you get the memo? 

• Don’t give your boss an excuse to fire you. 
• Don’t give your adversary the nails to seal your coffin. 
• Don’t give your enemies ammunition. 

How many different ways do you have to say it?

Employers are now taking it to a whole “notha” level in rooting out employees playing hookie.  They are now hiring private investigators to find out the shady shenanigans of employees.  No longer content to stumbling across your Facebook status update that you’re vacationing when you’re supposed to be on your death bed, company’s are now not quite trusting, but definitely verifying that you are sick.

Don’t get caught out there!

Business Week writes:

Kronos, a workforce productivity firm in Chelmsford, Mass., recently found that 57 percent of U.S. salaried employees take sick days when they’re not really sick—a nearly 20 percent increase from statistics gathered between 2006 and 2008. Taking such risks amid an economic meltdown, suggests Kronos Senior Director Joyce Maroney, has less to do with foolish confidence than a general lack of enthusiasm for work. “People are staying in jobs they don’t like because of a fear that there won’t be another job out there,” she says. “With less job satisfaction, there’s a greater propensity for sick-time abuse.”

That’s great news for the corporate surveillance business. Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group, a private investigation firm in Clifton Park, N.Y., with experience in corporate sleuthing, charges $75 per hour per investigator. And those hours add up. According to Alliance Chief Executive Officer and founder Mario Pecoraro Jr., successful surveillance requires establishing a pattern of activity that, he says, “can sometimes require multiple days, or even weeks.”

Perhaps this is because workers have become increasingly inventive with their sick-day tomfoolery. This summer, Middletown (Pa.) schoolteacher Leslie Herneisey—a three-time Teacher of the Year nominee—was arrested and charged with lying to colleagues about having an inoperable brain tumor so she could take extended sick leave. In 2009 four firefighters in Haverhill, Mass., were suspended after a private investigator, hired by the mayor, caught them attending hockey games and engaging in other blatantly non-sick-day activities.

The funniest “caught with your pants down moment” has to be the lady caught at an amusement park (with pictures) when she was supposely sick

Earlier this year, Raymond investigated an employee at a Florida health organization who called in sick with the flu for three days. As Raymond discovered, she was actually visiting the Universal Studios theme park. “On some of those roller coasters, they take your picture at a really sharp turn, and then you can buy it at a kiosk,” Raymond recalls. “She went on three rides, and I bought all three of her pictures, which had the date at the bottom.” When confronted with the evidence by her employers, Raymond says her first response was, “That’s not me!” After they played Raymond’s video of her volunteering at the theme park’s animal show, her only defense was, “I don’t even remember that!” She was fired.

In my best Bill Cosby voice, “c’mon people!”

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