Sick days are thing of the past with new government-backed gadget for employers

Lie detectors could soon be used to deter workers from pulling sickies, after trials of the technology were backed by the government last week.

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Employers have given a cautious welcome to plans to use the Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) system to tell when people are lying on the phone about being too ill to work, reports Personnel Today magazine.

Anti-fraud minister James Plaskitt last week announced that pilot projects using VRA to detect false benefit claims in local authorities had been a success. A year-long trial at Harrow Borough Council, one of seven that concluded this month, identified more than 40 false benefits claims, saving the authority in excess of 330,000.

The technology works by identifying changes in a callerís voice. It then makes thousands of calculations before prompting the phone operator to take specific action to encourage the caller to withdraw their claim.

Lawrence Knowles, managing director of software and outsourcing firm Midland HR, told Personnel Today magazine that VRA would soon be a useful tool in reducing sickness absence. ìIf lie detectors can detect benefit fraud, then why not look at the application of the technology in absence management?î he said.

ìIf you know there is a lie detector on the other end of the phone, I'm pretty sure most people would think twice.î

Many employers already outsource their absence management to specialists, who often use nurses to field calls, assess risk and deter fake sickness.

Susan Anderson, director of HR policy at employersí group the CBI, said the technology could be ìvery usefulî.

ìResearch from the CBI and AXA shows that employers believe 12% of absence is not genuine, and that these sickies amount to 21 million lost days every year, at a cost of 1.6bn,î she said.

However, she added that employers did not want to behave like Big Brother, and that the technology would be best used as part of a range of incentives and penalties.

For more information please call Mike Berry, deputy editor at Personnel Today magazine on 020 8652 3938 (Mon) or 07947 822374