Love them or hate them, most career experts agree that it's a good professional move for workers to RSVP "yes" to their office holiday party.
But according to one LinkedIn survey, two groups of employees are the most likely to skip out on attending by using a fake excuse: managers and high earners.
In the survey of 2,000 working professionals, the job site found 28% of senior managers and 33% of people making over $160,000 per year have lied to get out of attending their company holiday party. That's compared to 18% of workers overall who've stretched the truth to bow out of the festivities.
"Across the board, we see working professionals feeling like they have to participate in everything from gift exchanges to indulging in sweet treats, and topping that list is an obligation to attend the company holiday party," LinkedIn career expert Blair Decembrele tells CNBC Make It. "While new hires and junior staff likely feel that they have to go to the party —and company celebrations still have some novelty for them — those in more senior roles or higher earners could have already attended their fair share of company parties, so are more likely to opt out."
However, attending the company holiday party could be a good career move for workers of any level. Previous LinkedIn research has found more than one-quarter of professionals learned about a new work opportunity at their holiday party or got face time with executives they wouldn't otherwise get to speak with. Almost half of all professionals reported attending these yearly events has a positive impact on their careers.
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, says while all workers should try to attend their company holiday parties, it's even more crucial for senior leadership to do so.
"Senior leadership is expected to be the standard-bearer of the company culture," he previously told CNBC Make It. "You're expected to live its principles.
"I don't like parties," he added. "I try talking my employees out of them, but they want them and so I attend them. And even though I'm not a party guy, I do expect senior management to show up. I'm not taking notes on who isn't there, but it isn't lost on me who comes and who doesn't."
That said, more workers would prefer to celebrate the holidays during office hours rather than take time out of their personal lives to attend a work function. The LinkedIn survey found 30% of workers would most prefer a team or company lunch during the workday to recognize the season, compared with 25% who'd rather have an office-wide party.
And that's not the only holiday-related activity workers would rather be doing during their 9 to 5. According to LinkedIn, 46% of people take care of holiday tasks at work and spend up to two hours per week doing so, including writing holiday cards, making party arrangements or coordinating family activities.
Broken down by age group, Gen Z workers are most likely to do this, with about three in four professionals using work time for holiday tasks. Twenty-one percent of younger workers confessed to shopping online during a conference call, and 18% have faked a meeting to get out of the office to do gift shopping.
Workers might feel better about taking time out of the workday to attend to personal matters knowing they'll make up for it while on vacation. Roughly half of workers reported they don't fully disconnect from work while on holiday leave, and 30% said they check in once or twice per day.
Workers who check in said they do so in order to answer quick or easy questions, or to address an urgent matter only they can handle. It's also possible workers prefer to check in periodically to manage email pile-up and ease the transition back to work in the New Year.
"Being connected 24/7 is an unfortunate byproduct of technology, and vacation should provide an opportunity to truly reset and unplug," Decembrele says. "If you must check in, set up a dedicated time each day and don't veer from your schedule."
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