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Speaking Point: It seems many people are playing hooky from work who are they, why do they do it, and what can be done about it?

Speaking Point: Most sick days occur during the 'holiday hiatus' - the days that run from Martin Luther King Day on January 18 to Memorial Day on May 31, which constitutes the longest part of the working year in which there are no paid holidays.

Speaking Point: Employees are often caught in the act when supplying fake doctor’s notes for long absences, when social networking reveals the truth. Teachers called in sick, and were fired when they posted Facebook photos of them enjoying activities on those days.

Speaking Point: Faked absences cause severe implications for the workplaces. A Kronos/Mercer study conducted in 2008 discovered that unplanned absences cost organizations, on average, the equivalent of nine percent of their base payroll.

Speaking Point: Web pages across the Internet encourage and assist employees on how to call in sick!. Wikihow.com, for example, suggests taking a (hidden) can of soup into work, feigning stomach pains and then rushing to the washroom and dumping the soup in the toilet as soon as there is someone near the cubicle to hear them do so.

Speaking Point: How many people call in a fake illness? According to a recent survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated, a massive 57 percent of employees do, 20% more than in 2008. And how would they spend their day off? 52 percent would lounge around their house; 49 percent would run errands and 25 percent said they would stay curled up in their beds.

Speaking Point: As workers increasingly fake sick days, companies are hiring private detectives at $75 an hour and off-duty cops to catch them.

Speaking Point: High unemployment rate is contributing because people are staying in jobs they don’t like or are underpaid, leading them to feel that the company “owes” them additional paid time off.

Speaking Point: Today’s technology can either help you or hurt you. The “SpoofCard,” sold by TelTech Systems, lets you make it look like your call is coming from whatever 10-digit phone number you chose — for example, your home phone number, when you're in Barbados. Of course TelTech also sells the LiarCard, which uses voice analysis to let HR offices and others know if the caller is being dishonest.

Speaking Point: The only solution: creating a clear work-life balance. By encouraging and enabling good health for employees, companies will ultimately create and maintain a productive and happy workforce. It won’t solve the problem completely, but employees will no longer feel the desire to be at home so often if they are provided with a place that they enjoy.