Scotland's office workers confess their most shameful sins

500 Scots were asked by online coffee retailer Novell Coffee which odious office worker sins they’d committed – and the results are in.

Just a month after new data suggested Brits are taking less time off work in the wake of Brexit, this new study shows Scots are finding plenty of ways to misbehave at work – on top of pulling the occasional sickie.

Just under a third of respondents said they don’t pull their weight when it comes to making teas and coffees – making this Scotland’s ultimate office worker sin.

Scots aged 18-24 are more conscientious when it comes to making cuppas, with just a fifth of younger office workers avoiding kettle duty – while 36% of 55-64 year olds aren’t doing their fair share in the office kitchenette.

Taking liberties

The results of the survey revealed many Scots are pushing their luck when it comes to sick days, online activity and what’s expected of them during meetings.

A surprising 23% of all Scots surveyed confessed to faking illness to get a day off – and with an incredible 80% of 18-24 year olds admitting they’ve pulled sickies in the past, it looks like Generation Y has a lot to answer for.

A further 21% of Scots revealed they’ve fallen asleep during meetings in the past – a habit that’s especially common among Scotland’s male workforce.

Compared with a relatively low 10% of women surveyed, over a third of Scottish men admitted to catching some shuteye during office meetings.

15% of Scottish office workers surveyed also went public about abusing their ‘incognito’ privileges through some inappropriate internet browsing.

Office worker warfare

With the dust beginning to settle on #hamgate, one interesting outcome of the survey saw office workers across Scotland declare war on their colleagues – penning passive aggressive post-it notes to their co-workers and even taking other people’s lunch from the office fridge.

12% of respondents said they’d written emotionally charged post-its to their colleagues in the past – with over-65s proving to have the loosest lips of all.

The English adage ‘finders, keepers’ really resonated with 10% of Scots surveyed, who confessed to having stolen and eaten a co-worker’s lunch at least once – while a shocking 22% of 45-54 year olds declared any food in the office fridge fair game.

It looks like employers across Scotland have their work cut out for them when it comes to brokering peace among the country’s white collar workforce – but, as ever, it seems there’s nothing that can’t be solved by popping the kettle on.

Respondents were able to select multiple answers to the following question:

Which of the following office worker sins have you committed?

Avoiding tea and coffee duties: 30.8%

Faking illness: 23.1%

Sleeping during meetings: 21.2%

Inappropriate internet browsing: 15.4%

Writing passive aggressive post-it notes: 11.5%

Eating a co-worker’s lunch: 9.6%