Issue Date: March 27, 2005

In this article:
Calling in sick...when you're not
House of cards: Papercrete

Calling in sick ... when you're not

Surprise, surprise: Many American workers who call in sick may not actually be ill, a study suggests. A recent Harris Interactive poll of 305 human resources execs found only 38% of employee absences on an unscheduled day off were due to illness. The remaining workers took "sick days" to address family issues, stress or personal needs, or because of an "entitlement mentality," says Paul Gibson, a vice president of CCH, an Illinois human resources information provider and the study's sponsor.

Faced with a tougher job climate and increased work pressure, employees may be skipping work to "establish equity," says Arthur Brief, a business and psychology professor at Tulane University in New Orleans. When you feel overwhelmed, he says, calling in sick is a way to "get payback."

Most employers allow for paid sick days (which usually are lost if unused), but companies that use a more flexible "paid time off bank" have cut absenteeism, Gibson says: "The major benefit is giving people more control over their time away from work."

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House of cards

A variety of eco-friendly paper-based building materials under development offer a lighter, cheaper alternative to concrete, with no loss of durability. "Papercrete" combines recycled paper -- from magazines to greeting cards to junk mail -- with cement for a lighter version of traditional building blocks, sometimes for as little as $1 per square foot. "Padobe" is made of paper and sand or dirt. Another material combines recycled paper with soybean flour to form a composite colored to resemble granite; it's used for walls, floors and decorative components. Eric Patterson of Silver City, N.M., says "people can't tell the difference" between his papercrete home and a conventional structure. For more information, go to papercrete.com or livinginpaper.com.

Contributing: Beverly Burmeier, Gary Stern