Heartbreak doesn’t just stay in the heart; sometimes it follows people straight into the workplace.

A new survey from Resume.io, which polled 1,000 full-time U.S. employees, found that 7.2% of workers have taken a sick day after going through a romantic breakup, with men notably more likely than women to step away from work during that time.

According to the findings, 8.3% of men reported calling in sick following a split compared to 6.3% of women — making men about 32% more likely to take time off for post-breakup recovery. The results suggest that some men may prefer to process emotional stress more privately, viewing sick leave as a socially acceptable way to cope with the impact of relationship loss.

“The ‘heartbreak sick day’ is real, and points to a bigger issue in workplace culture,” said Amanda Augustine, a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC) and resident career expert at resume.io. “Emotional pain is still treated differently than physical illness … especially for men who may feel less comfortable being open about what they’re dealing with.”

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Augustine continued. “When employees don’t feel safe saying they need time to recover emotionally, they default to calling in sick. Whether it’s heartbreak, burnout, or mental exhaustion, people are often forced to disguise very human needs as a case of the flu.”

Gen Z employees are far more likely than older generations to take a day off after a breakup, highlighting a growing shift in how workers view emotional wellness. According to the survey, 10.3% of Gen Z respondents said they’ve called in sick following heartbreak, compared to 9.2% of millennials, 5.2% of Gen X, and just 1.4% of baby boomers, making younger workers significantly more likely to treat mental health as a valid reason for stepping away from work.

The findings point to a clear generational divide, with younger professionals more open to prioritizing emotional recovery, while older workers tend to keep personal challenges separate from their professional lives. The so-called “heartbreak sick day” also reflects a broader workplace trend.

The Resume.io report found that 83.3% of U.S. employees admit they’ve been less than truthful about why they took time off, with mental health concerns now driving more absences than physical illness. Burnout, stress, and mental exhaustion account for 40.1% of sick days, the most common reason workers call out, yet only 14.5% said they were fully honest with employers about their absence.

Nearly one-third (32.6%) cited conflict with colleagues as a key trigger for mental health days, while 26.1% pointed to overwhelming workloads and 21.7% blamed toxic management. From staging “soft launches” of an absence to blaming minor illnesses, many employees feel pressured to mask vulnerability in workplace cultures that still stigmatize emotional well-being. In fact, just 17% of respondents said they’ve never taken a sick day for reasons other than illness and have always been completely transparent about it.

“From heartbreak to burnout, sick days have quietly shifted from a health safeguard into a survival tool,” Augustine adds. “Until companies acknowledge that emotional and mental exhaustion are just as real as physical illness, employees will continue to suffer in silence … or fake the flu to get the time they need to recover.”

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