See which huge Aussie sporting event makes workers take the most sickies

New data has revealed that some of Australia's biggest sporting events are sparking a rise in people calling in sick to work, with one occasion causing a massive surge in absenteeism.

Data collected from Deputy, a shift work management platform which tracks employee admin such as leave requests, payroll and rostering has given an insight into when workers are chucking sickies, revealed the Herald Sun.

It shows that workers calling in sick on the Monday after the Australian Grand Prix has surged dramatically. 

Absenteeism was up a surprising 5.4 per cent on March 25 this year, in comparison the three Mondays proceeding the event.

Restaurants saw a dramatic impact, with 34.4 per cent of shift workers not turning up for rostered shifts, up from an average of 17.1 per cent over the previous three Mondays.

'Many Victorian shift workers struggled to make it into work on the Monday following the Formula One Grand Prix,' said Katrina Holt, the spokesperson for Deputy.

'In fact, the number of workers who were absent for their shifts on Monday 25 March spiked significantly when compared with the three Mondays prior.'

Data also shows that many sports fans call in sick ahead of the AFL Grand Final, and take sick leave on either side of the Melbourne Cup holiday.

Holt explained the data before the 2022 and 2023 AFL Grand Finals.

'In both years, and across all shift work industries, absenteeism spiked most significantly on Thursdays, ahead of the public holiday on Friday, as Victorians geared up for an extra long weekend,' she said.

'Now that the 2024 AFL season has kicked off, Victorians will be marking their calendars for September.

'In response, businesses should consider rostering more staff in anticipation for a dip in staffing levels.'

Shift workers also called in sick more on Grand Final day itself last year (23.26 per cent) an increase of 1.78 per cent compared to the three Sundays proceeding it.