Are you sick enough to miss out on a free car?

As we are all aware, not every sick person to phone in is genuinely sick, if any. The problem though is that an estimated £10Bn is lost every year due to sick days being taken. That money could be the difference between staffing a whole hospital, and making those staff redundant. With today’s financial issues on everyone’s mind, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could do something about it ourselves, as opposed to simply pointing our finger and the government.

However how can we really tell the genuine sick workers from the hung-over layabouts? We simply cannot just force people into work, just as we cannot all get ourselves a sick note from the local doctor. Perhaps we should take a step back and think back to schooling days, and see what valuable lesson we could recap on. Incentives. Ultimately what are we doing to guarantee that every person to call in sick is being 100% honest? Increased tax has meant that workers are taking home fewer notes then before, which only begs the question- what is the point in going in.

One employer taking this problem into his own hands is Merseyside Fire and Rescue, which rewards 100% attendance.

Four years ago the service introduced an "absentee incentive scheme", which occupational health manager Paul Blanchard-Flett says has halved the sickness absence rate.

In 2003-2004, each employee was taking an average of 11.36 days off per year. By 2008-2009, that fell to just over 5.5 per person per year.

Mr Blanchard-Flett says the organisation achieved this through a range of measures, including tracking the patterns of sick leave, offering staff telephone counselling, and helping people with getting back to work after illness.

There are also prizes for full attendance: anyone who goes 12 months without a day off sick is entered into a draw with the chance to win a family hatchback. And workers who have managed to go three months without absence can win £1,000 in cash or department store vouchers.

More than 80% of the 1,500 employees qualify for the car prize draw - a winner is picked at a ceremony. "The cost of the incentive scheme is minor in comparison with the cost savings that are made," explains Mr Blanchard-Flett.

This is just one place that has made it hard to pull a ‘sickie’- who wouldn’t jump at a chance to win a brand new car? I for one would not mind being rewarded for my attendance by getting behind Volkswagen golf, contract hire is also available however for all those tight employers out there.