Another reason to hate Mondays
You’re more likely to sustain a workplace injury on a Monday than any other weekday – and exhaustion from the weekend is a contributing factor.
Known as the ‘‘Monday Effect’’, a new study released by the non-profit Motu Economic and Public Policy Research institute yesterday said workers from many countries were more likely to make an injury compensation claim on a Monday than any other day of the week.
And New Zealand is no exception. The research, by Michelle Poland, Isabelle Sin and Steven Stillman, found 22 per cent of weekday work injury claims that require time off happen on a Monday.
If the injuries were spread out evenly, just 20 per cent of work-based injuries would occur on that day of the week.
However, most Monday injuries were less severe than on other days of the week, Sin said.
‘‘The size of the Monday Effect for sprains and strains is slightly larger, with 22.3 per cent of weekday work lost-time claims for sprains and strains occurring on a Monday,’’ she said.
The study also found the percentage of injuries decrease as the week progresses, with the fewest claims on a Friday.
‘‘Our findings suggest the Monday Effect is caused by workers being either fatigued from weekend activities or having lower pain thresholds earlier in the week,’’ Sin said.
Prior studies in Canada’s Ontario and Minnesota in the United States found some people who hurt themselves on the weekend fraudulently claimed they had sustained the injuries at work during the week. Fraudulent claims in those studies were at 4.7 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.
In New Zealand, the rate of fraudulent claims was much lower.
‘‘In general, we find little support for the idea that fraudulent claims are important for understanding the Monday Effect in New Zealand,’’ Sin said.
‘‘We find both elevated sprains and strains claims on Tuesday and elevated Monday strains and sprains claims among non-workers, neither of which is consistent with fraudulent claims driving the Monday Effect.’’