If it's oddly quiet at work, here's why: A study found today is the "sickest day of the year" . . . when we're most likely to skip out on work.
A company that tracks sick days looked at five years' worth of data. And more people call in sick on August 24th than any other day . . . either because they ARE sick, or just don't want to be there.
They're not sure why today is #1. But in general, they found more people call in sick in late summer . . . maybe because kids are back in school, and the weather's still nice.
August isn't the sickest MONTH though. That's February, when a lot more people tend to ACTUALLY be sick.
The second sickest day is February 13th, which is close to Valentine's Day AND the Super Bowl. So that might have something to do with it too.
The rest of the top five are: October 25th, the week before Halloween . . . December 15th, in the lead-up to Christmas . . . and April 18th for some reason. September 5th also made the Top 10. That's the day after Labor Day this year.
Here are a few more quick stats from the study . . .
1. The most common sick day excuses last year were stomach bugs . . . COVID . . . and anxiety, or mental health days.
2. 26% of Americans didn't take ANY sick days last year. 5% took more than 20.
3. "Calling" in sick is an outdated term. 54% of us usually text now, or send a Slack message. 33% still call . . . 12% send an email . . . and 2% don't even bother telling their boss. (Maybe managers, or people working from home?)