The number of Saskatchewan government employees who call in sick spikes after the holidays and during football events or the release of a popular video game.

That’s according to data on the top 25 sick days taken by provincial workers in 2013-14, which the Canadian Taxpayers Federation obtained through a freedom of information request.

“(It) definitely looks like a few of these spikes in sick days aren’t a coincidence,” the federation’s Colin Craig said in a news release Thursday.

“The government could save a healthy amount of tax dollars if it tackled high sick day usage by government employees.”

The Monday after this past New Year’s Day topped the list, with 679 government employees taking sick leave, followed by the Wednesday after Jan. 1 with 624.

The data also showed a correlation between football events and increases in sick days taken by Saskatchewan’s civil servants.

A total of 618 sick days were claimed on the day after a Saskatchewan Roughriders home game in September 2013.

And last November’s Grey Cup Parade in Regina saw 574 provincial workers call in sick on the day of the event, and 600 the following day.

Being the among the first to play a popular video game could be another excuse for staying home sick.

Just under 580 government employees told their bosses they were too sick to work during the September 2013 release of Grand Theft Auto V.

Bad weather could also be to blame for a sudden spike in sickness among Saskatchewan’s public sector employees.

Last November, 627 provincial workers called in sick during the first winter storm of the season, and 610 sick days were claimed when temperatures fell below minus 40C with the wind chill.

According to Statistics Canada, the average private sector worker in the province took 6.9 sick days in 2012, compared to 11 days for municipal, provincial and federal employees in Saskatchewan.

“Nobody is expecting government employees to come to work when they’re truly sick,” Craig said.

“But when those ‘sick days’ magically coincide with video game releases, vacations and football games, it’s clear some people should be using vacation days instead.”