CareerBuilder.com just released its annual list of most unusual excuses for calling in sick. “Lost track of time browsing https://www.theemployerhandbook.com” didn’t make the list. (Probably because it’s sooooooo commonplace).
“Siri Assistant, what is the greatest labor-and-employment-law blog of them all?”
“I found three stores in your area that sell Altoids.”
After the jump, the 15 best excuses…
* * *
Here are the top 15:
- Employee’s 12-year-old daughter stole his car and he had no other way to work. Employee didn’t want to report it to the police.
- Employee said bats got in her hair.
- Employee said a refrigerator fell on him.
- Employee was in line at a coffee shop when a truck carrying flour backed up and dumped the flour into her convertible.
- Employee said a deer bit him during hunting season.
- Employee ate too much at a party.
- Employee fell out of bed and broke his nose.
- Employee got a cold from a puppy.
- Employee’s child stuck a mint up his nose and had to go to the ER to remove it.
- Employee hurt his back chasing a beaver.
- Employee got his toe caught in a vent cover.
- Employee had a headache after going to too many garage sales.
- Employee’s brother-in-law was kidnapped by a drug cartel while in Mexico.
- Employee drank anti-freeze by mistake and had to go to the hospital.
- Employee was at a bowling alley and a bucket filled with water crashed through the ceiling and hit her on the head.
When are employees most likely to call in sick?
- January through March – 34%
- April through June – 13%
- July through September – 30%
- October through December – 23%
Of those surveyed, only 28% reported checking up on an employee who calls in sick, citing the following examples:
- 69% percent required a doctor’s note
- 52% percent called the employee
- 19% had another employee call the employee
- 16% drove by the employee’s home
Here is an infographic summarizing all of the survey results.
Image credit: buzzingkidsworld.com