Survey: Workers reluctant to call in sick because of too much work and staffing issues 10 Feb, 2021 05:00 PM 4 minutes to read A new survey has found workers are hesitant to call in sick because of staffing and leave issues. Photo / Getty A new survey has found workers are hesitant to call in sick because of staffing and leave issues. Photo / Getty New Zealanders are reluctant to call in sick despite feeling unwell because there was no one to cover them or there was too much work to do, a new survey has found. The report for recruitment agency Onestaff revealed the top five reasons people were hesitant to take sick leave - with 53 per cent blaming being short-staffed as the number one reason.