KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — One in four Malaysian employees have faked illnesses to score medical certificates while one in four of those who have not done so are willing to pay up to RM25 for a fake MC, a JobStreet.com survey revealed.
The practice of skipping work without reason has been costing employers a whopping RM2.9 billion each year, the employment website said, pointing out that companies have to fork out hefty overtime payments to workers forced to take on their “sick” colleagues’ shifts.
JobStreet.com said it polled 749 employees across various industries in June this year to study the prevalence of MC abuse in Malaysia and discovered that 26 per cent have faked illnesses to escape their duties.
Some even admitted to submitting up to five MCs to their employers in the last six months, JobStreet.com said.
Asked why they wanted to skip work, the respondents gave three key reasons: a lack of mood to work; feeling burnt out; or to attend job interviews.
“This is a sign that they are not motivated at their workplace and are being dishonest just to avoid coming to work,” JobStreet.com said in a press statement.
Although a majority of employees said they have not abused the MC system, a quarter of those said they were willing to pay for a chit if they could.
JobStreet.com also quoted one senior level executive as saying: “I would purchase a MC if my boss does not approve my leave and I need a break after working 14 hours the day before”.
The survey also polled employers to find out how frequently they experience the problem and revealed that 57 per cent of 1,058 employers had faced the issue.
Asked the kind of action they take against these errant employees, the respondents said they usually sent warning letters or issued verbal warnings, or gave the staff poor performance appraisals.
“Checking with the medical clinic to confirm that the staff was indeed sick is also a common method for HR departments to validate the authenticity of the MC,” the firm said in the statement.
Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management (MIHRM) president Aresandiran J. said human resource managers should positively address these cases regularly to curb further abuse.
“Employees who abuse medical leave facilities tend to be from those with low commitment, poor morale, and poor work-life balance,” he was quoted saying in the JobStreet.com press release.
Earlier this year in June, the Health Ministry said it was mulling a centralised system to allow employers to track their employees’ medical leave track records.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya said the system was similar to the Credit Tip-Off Service (CTOS) adopted by the banking industry, according to The Malay Mail newspaper.
“This centralised system will allow future employers to check how many sick leave days their future employees have taken during their previous employment.
“They can then decide if they want to hire the employee based on his or her track record,” he was quoted as saying.
The paper also quoted Malaysian Employees Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan as saying that Malaysian employers lost an estimated RM8.2 billion in 2013 because of medical leave.
The figure contrasts with Jobstreet’s RM 2.9 billion annual estimate.
