Free Republic

LONDON (Reuters) - More British workers will call in "sick" Monday than on any other day in 2006, many opting to make their excuses by text message or by phoning in with an artistic cough or splutter, research revealed Monday. Widespread dissatisfaction with holiday allowances combined with a post-Christmas comedown will contribute to thousands of Britons, who work some of the longest hours in Europe, staying at home to recharge their batteries. "Early February is a very popular time for taking a 'sickie', the first bank holiday still seems a long way off, the days are gloomy and many people...

Workplace experts predict a rise in absenteeism today because of the opening of the last Star Wars movie. Click here for the rest of the story.

TROY, Mich. (AP) — Delphi Corp., intent on containing costs in tough times, is cracking down on absenteeism by threatening to withhold pay or vacation days from hourly employees who refuse to sign waivers releasing their medical records. The Troy-based automotive supplier had had a less formal policy asking workers to sign medical record releases. In April, however, Delphi revised the waiver form to give employees fewer choices over what records are released and by more aggressively investigating absences it considers suspicious. "If the employee will not sign the `consent to release medical information' form, management will have to make...

J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times Tanya Frazier and her daughter, Vanessa. Tanya Frazier, the office manager of a 50-person payroll management company in Burbank, Calif., received a call last September from the elementary school her daughter attends, telling her to pick up her flu-stricken 9-year-old. But when she stayed home from work the next day to care for her daughter, she was fired. Just why is a matter of dispute. Ms. Frazier said she was shocked, because she had missed work only a handful of days that year. Her boss, Jerry Schwartz, said in an interview that...

STOCKHOLM: Swedish welfare authorities plan to launch a campaign to educate Swedes about when they can take sick leave, after a study showed 40 per cent believe it is enough to feel tired to stay home and draw benefits. "Our mistake could be that, in some misdirected benevolence, we were not clear enough on where the limits are," the National Social Insurance Board's head Anna Hedborg wrote in a column for the Dagens Nyheter daily. Sweden, famous for its generous welfare policies, has seen sick leave absenteeism double over the last two years to 800,000, or one fifth of the...

Hewlett-Packard Co., the No. 1 personal computer and printer maker, said on Thursday that it had sent home nearly 200 workers at a technology services office near Toronto after two employees were suspected of having SARS. SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, is a pneumonia-like illness that has killed more than 110 people and infected almost 3,000 worldwide. About two weeks ago, Palo Alto, California-based HP closed one of its two main Hong Kong offices, sending home about 200 workers after an employee came down with SARS-like symptoms . HP reopened those offices on April 1. In Canada, the two...