Singapore: One in five workers here admitted that they have faked illness to get an MC, according to a survey released today by recruitment firm JobsCentral.

Of these, about half said they would get fake medical certificates at least three times a year. The survey, which polled 3,299 employees and 256 hiring managers, was conducted between August and October this year.

The top three most common excuses that workers give for the ill-gotten day-off: Headache/giddiness (41.5 per cent), diarrhoea/food poisoning (18.3 per cent) and stomach cramps (10.7 per cent).

More than seven in 10 bosses said they would check on their "sick" staff who are absent, with most of them asking for MCs to verify the staff's claims.