In a recent survey by travel website Skyscanner, one in five Singaporeans admitted to lying to get time off work.

The online survey of 1,000 Singaporeans in March asked respondents what they did to secure time off from their jobs. Participants were allowed to choose more than one response from seven options.

Nearly half said they booked their leave over six months in advance to ensure that their preferred dates were secured. One in 10 said they lied by claiming that their holiday was already booked, while 9 per cent said they called in pretending to be sick.

Other lies include pretending a family member was sick (6 per cent) and pretending that they needed time off to take a honeymoon (4 per cent). Another 4 per cent said they paid or bribed a colleague to help them lie.