Managers aren't convinced by staff texting in sick

Increasingly, employees are deciding to text in sick rather than call in, much to the suspicion of their managers.

According to a survey from Covonia, the cold medicine manufacturer, one-quarter of British employees send their bosses a text instead of phoning. What's more worrying is that one in six simply send a message on Facebook to confirm their absence.

However this is rousing suspicion with the leaders of British businesses, with three-quarters believing this method of confirming sickness is a "cop-out". In fact, some excuses aren't flying at all with a business' CEO or senior leader - which is why one-fifth said they snoop on their employees' Facebook pages when they are off sick, in order to check that they aren't telling a fib.

Employees have caught onto this though, as 34 per cent said they make an effort not to use the social media site when they are absent from work due to illness, Managementtoday.co.uk revealed.

Covonia surveyed 10,000 people in order to collate their results, of which 13 per cent said they thought simply being off with a cold was a "weak excuse". What's more, their pleas of not wanting to pass it onto colleagues are unfounded, according to Cardiff University's professor Ron Eccles.

"Cold sufferers are at their most contagious up to three days before exhibiting any symptoms, so by the time they are feeling unwell, the chance of catching their illness is already reduced," the professor revealed, cited by Mirror.co.uk. "In fact, to catch a cold, close and prolonged contact to the viruses is required - which is why most colds are spread at home."