UK workers are great big fibbers – at least if you believe a report by an internet gaming firm.
The study by Cyberslotz.co.uk found UK workers told more than 1.4 billion lies to their bosses last year, with more than two thirds - 68 per cent - admitting to lying at least once a week.
The most common lies were pretending to be sick and lying about why you have arrived late for work.
Nearly four out of 10 used old chestnuts such as “the train was cancelled" or “the car wouldn’t start” or even that a family pet had died.
But workers claimed they were often put in an invidious position by their bosses wanting to know about their private lives.
A third, for instance, claimed they would blatantly lie to their boss if asked “what did you do last night?”.
Other common lies included covering about the fact they had drunk too much after work, having an occasional flutter, having a fling with a work colleague, being in an open relationship, losing their driving licence or, thankfully least frequently, being arrested.