Industry news

Lie detectors to spot 'sickies'

Workers 'pulling sickies' could be ousted by the introduction of lie-detector tests after trials were hailed a triumph, it has been reported.

The idea has been welcomed by employer groups after the government declared the pilot schemes at local authorities a money-saving success, according to Personnel Today.

Last week, the government's anti-fraud minister James Plaskitt announced that projects using the Voice Risk Analysis system to detect false benefits claims had saved more than £420,000 in Harrow borough council alone.

The technology, developed by Capita and Digilog UK, detects changes in a caller's voice and then calculates the likelihood of a lie before advising the phone operator what to say to encourage the caller to withdraw their claim.

Lawrence Knowles, managing director of Midland HR, told the publication the tool would be a useful method to reduce sickness absence.

"If lie detectors can detect benefit fraud, then why not look at the application of the technology in absence management?" he said.

"If you know there is a lie detector on the other end of the phone, I'm pretty sure most people would think twice [about lying]."

Meanwhile, a new report by employment law firm Peninsula has revealed that most firms were hit by workers pulling a "sickie" last week because of hot weather.