If a sharp fall in the use of trains, buses and ferries last Friday is any guide, Sydneysiders scored a four-day weekend en masse last week through fair or foul means.
The latest data from the state's electronic Opal ticketing system shows a 19 per cent fall in trips on Sydney Trains and NSW TrainsLink to 167,148 between 7am and 9am last Friday, compared with the morning peak on the same day a week earlier.
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And the number of trips on buses across Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle fell even more â by over 21 per cent to 110,587 journeys during the morning peak last Friday.
While far smaller in size, journeys on Sydney's public ferries plunged by one-third to 3537.
With Australia Day falling on a Thursday this year, businesses had expected a high number of staff to call in sick on Friday so that people could gain a four-day weekend.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce had estimated that the number of people taking sick leave last Friday could amount to 180,000 more than a typical workday, costing employers acoss the country more than $62 million.
It had urged employees who had wanted a four-day weekend to do the right thing and take Friday off as annual leave, warning that misuse of sick leave eroded trust in the workplace and puts more strain on colleagues.
The chamber also warned that the issue will come to the fore again in April because Anzac Day falls on a Tuesday this year.
The estimates on the cost of sick leave were made before last Friday, and the chamber has not since surveyed members to determine how many staff actually called in sick.
The Transport Management Centre said traffic was very light on Sydney's roads last Friday as many people took a four-day weekend despite the fact some schools had reopened after the summer holidays.
"It was a quiet day even by our standards. There was definitely a large number of people who took an extra day," a spokeswoman said.