NEW YORK (Reuters) - A third of U.S. workers say they have called in sick with fake excuses at least once this year, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

One in 10 said they skipped work to avoid a meeting, buy time on a project or avoid the ire of a boss or colleague, the survey found. It was conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, an online jobs site.

Other respondents cited a need to relax and recharge, visit a doctor, sleep, run errands, catch up on housework or spend time with family and friends.

Most employers in the survey said they typically did not question the reasons workers gave for being absent.

However, 31 percent said they have checked up on an employee who called in sick, and 18 percent have fired a worker for missing work without a legitimate excuse.

The nationwide poll was conducted online among 3,388 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 6,842 U.S. full-time employees between August 21 and September 9, 2008.

CareerBuilder.com, which offers online and print networks to connect job seekers with employers, is owned by Gannett Co Inc, Tribune Co., The McClatchy Co. and Microsoft Corp.