Forty percent of UK office workers have pretended to be sick at least once during the last year, according to a recent survey by office design company Maris Interiors. The most common excuses given for missing work were cough/flu (24%), stomach upset (18%) and minor injuries (7%).

Twelve percent of those questioned admitted to doing groundwork prior to taking a sick day - by mentioning some fake symptoms the day before. And we're a lot lazier than our friends across the pond: a similar survey conducted in 2008 in the States showed only a third of US employees admit faking illness to miss work.

Of those who admitted pretending to be unwell; 82% think they got away with it, and only 3% were found out as having faked their illness or injury. No-one surveyed had managed to lose their job for as a result.

Maris Interiors Chairman Michael Howard said, "We've always known that some people fake the occasional sick day, but I'm surprised the numbers were so high. I would definitely advise fakers to text in their excuses rather than phone if they don't want to get caught: there's a reason you work in an office not on the stage!"