This is the excuse bosses believe the most if you want to pull a sickie

FORGET saying you slipped on a banana skin or that your pet hamster has died, the most believable sickie excuse has finally been revealed.

Telling your boss you have the flu was dubbed the top reason for an employee to miss work, a new study has found.

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The research, which was conducted by AXA PPP, quizzed 1,000 senior business leaders about what they considered important enough for a person to be absent from the office.

Flu satisfied four out of 10 bosses, followed by back pain and injury caused by an accident.

Employers also took stress as a reasonable excuse, with depression and surgery such as hip or knee replacements narrowly behind.

But forget feigning a cold or migraine as this convinced just 20 per cent of managers in the study.

Meanwhile, eight per cent said they were not convinced by any of the above health problems.

Researchers found staff are more likely to lie if they need time off for mental health issues than they are for physical problems.

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Less than half the workforce would tell their line manager they were calling in sick because of stress, anxiety or depression, according to the survey.

By contrast, more than 80 per cent would feel comfortable asking for time off because of flu, being injured in an accident or back pain.