More outrageous excuses for calling in sick

• Employee’s false teeth flew out the window while driving down the highway
• Employee’s favourite football team lost on Sunday so needed Monday to recover
• The worker was quitting smoking and was grouchy
• Someone glued a female worker’s doors and windows shut so she couldn’t leave the house to come to work
• One staff member bit her tongue and therefore couldn’t talk, stopping her from coming to work
• An employee claimed a swarm of bees had surrounded his vehicle and he couldn’t make it in
• Another staffer said the chemical in turkey made him fall asleep and he missed his shift
• Employee felt like he was so angry he was going to hurt someone if he came in
• Employee received a threatening phone call from the electric company and needed to report it to the FBI
• The staffer’s fake eye was falling out of its socket

The survey of over 3,000 workers and 2,000 hiring managers and HR professionals also gave some insights into all things sick days.  Of those surveyed it found nearly a third of workers have called in sick when they were not actually ill, while 30% of employees said they’ve gone to work despite actually being sick so they can save their sick days for when they’re well.

As for the most popular time of year for increase in sick days, three in 10 employers identified the holiday seasons as a harbinger of illness. Christmas experiences the biggest hike in number of employees calling in sick with 19% of employers saying it is the time of year staff call in sick the most.

But employers admit to checking in on suspected offenders (30%) and they aren’t above using devious tactics to find out the truth. While 64% required a doctor’s note and 48% called the employee, 19% resorted to checking out the worker’s social media posts, 17% had another employee call the unwell staff member and 15% took matters into their own hands by driving past the employee’s house. Upon finding an employee had used a fake excuse 16% of employers admitting to firing the offender.

The survey also found that apart from actual illness the most common reasons for taking a sick day were:

• They didn’t feel like going to work (33%)
• They needed to relax (28%)
• Going to the doctor (24%)
• Catching up on sleep (19%)
• Running personal errands (14%)

Last month HRM brought you a different list of the top 20 worst excuses and readers chimed in with employees who claimed to have gotten lost on the way to work, wanted to stay home to try out their new Xbox and had to replace a passport after their cat peed on it.

What's the most memorable excuse you've ever heard?