More than one-third of UK workers have ‘pulled a sickie’, says Confused.com. When the consumer website interviewed the staff, they admitted having lied to their boss about the reason they took time off. The latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI) workplace health survey shows that the UK economy lost 190 million working days to absence last year, with each employee taking an average of 6.5 days off sick. CBI figures say there were 30.4 million days of non-genuine sickness absence.