One in four UK festival goers take a sickie the next day to recover

As summer festival season continues, with the Big Chill this weekend, looks like UK workers are pulling sneaky sickies to recover from their weekend of partying.

Monster.co.uk recently asked 992 workers in the UK ìHave you taken a sickie to recover from a summer festival?î and of those that have attended a festival almost a quarter (24%) have taken the next day off to recover.

For those heading to a festival this weekend or later in the summer Monster offers the following advice to employers and employees:

- Taking time off to recover from the weekend is not very professional and will not go down well with your boss, although one day may seem insignificant it sends a message that you arenít committed to your career and place having fun over career progression.

- If you really want to let your hair down and not worry about work on Monday it may be worth booking a dayís holiday and then you can relax and enjoy yourself with a clear conscience.

- Over the quieter summer period employers might want to consider giving staff the option to take a duvet day* on a day of their choice. Showing good will in this way will encourage staff to be more honest in their communication and will reduce absenteeism.

The results of the current Monster Meter are based on votes cast by Monster.co.uk visitors from 7th ñ 20th July 2008. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Meter, a product of Monster, the leading global online careers website and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge users' opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those Internet users who have chosen to participate. Anyone interested in voting in Monster's current online poll may do so by logging onto www.monster.co.uk

* - Duvet day is a term that has become synonymous with the act of taking a day off work or school when you ëjust donít feel up to ití. You are not ill, you donít want to lie to the boss; you just need a day in bed!!