Nine percent blamed the bad weather for their tardiness, while 8% indicated a delay in getting their kids to daycare or school. Other common reasons included public transportation, wardrobe issues or dealing with pets, according to a press release.
However, some workers had more “interesting” excuses for being late. Hiring managers provided the following examples of the most outrageous excuses employees offered for arriving late to work:
- Employee claimed is car was inhabited by a hive of bees and he couldn’t use the car for two hours until bees left.
- Employee claimed their cat attacked them.
- Employee claimed it was a delay with public transportation and produced a note signed by “The Bus Driver.”
- Employee claimed his Botox appointment took longer than he expected.
- Employee claimed his hair was hurting his head.
- Employee claimed they did not get any sleep because their boyfriend’s wife threw them out of the house.
- Employee claimed they knew they were already going to be late, so they figured they’d go ahead and stop to get donuts for everyone.
- Employee claimed their Karma was not in sync that day.
- Employee claimed they got hurt taking a fork out of the dishwasher.
- Employee claimed they weren’t late … the company clock was wrong.
The survey reveals that 15% of workers said they arrive late to work once a week or more, down from 16% in 2009 and 20% in 2008. While some employers are more lenient with worker tardiness, 32% said they have terminated an employee for being late.
The national survey was conducted among 2,482 U.S. employers and 3,910 U.S. employees between November 15 and December 2, 2010.