Posted: 15.05.2008 at 19.23
THE great Australian tradition of pulling a sickie could be endangered if technology used in the UK makes its way to our shores.
The Daily Mail reports UK businesses are using lie detectors with a new generation of voice analysis systems to crack down on employees who pull sickies.
The technology means someone phoning in for a sickie will speak not to their boss, but to a computer set up to check whether their voice is steady and reliable.
Its introduction to control absenteeism follows trials on welfare cheats and comes at a time when sickness levels in industry are estimated to cost the British economy more than £13 billion ($26 billion) a year, with nearly one in eight days off sick in the UK thought to be fake.
The Daily Telegraph reported last year sick leave costs Australian businesses $2.56 billion a year, a study conducted by recruitment company Morgan and Banks found.
Sickies across the Australian Public Service cost taxpayers $295 million a year in salaries and up to three times that amount in total expenses, The Australian reported in December.
One trial of the lie detector in North-West London saved the borough £420,000 in false welfare claims.
That system, developed by Capita and Digilog UK, is called Voice Risk Analysis.
It makes thousands of checks during a call and if it picks up changes in a caller's voice that suggest they are under pressure - as is likely if they are lying - it gives prompts to whoever is taking the call. They can then encourage the caller to change their mind about being sick.
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