New Survey Lists Outrageous Reasons Employees Use When Calling Out Sick
By Tim Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Playing hooky today? What's your excuse? A new survey out lists some your boss might not want to hear.
CareerBuilder spoke with workers and people in HR departments to put together their list of the worst sick day excuses of the year. One of them being a worker not able to come into work because "I accidentally got on a plane."
"I don't know how you kind of just wander in and accidentally get on a plane. Seems like something you kind of have to plan out. Seems a bit far-fetched to me," says Aaron, who claims he can't even remember taking a sick day.
Another tall tale is from an employee who claimed they could not work because they put their uniform in the microwave to dry and it caught fire.
"Is that common?" Aaron asked. "That sounds pretty far-fetched. I don't know who's believing these excuses that they're giving."
Other excuses: "I just put a casserole in the oven." "I'm stuck in the blood pressure machine at the grocery store."
"I would say if you work at my company I wouldn't recommend using any of these excuses unless you're looking for a new job," said Alexis.
"I think they're pathetic!" commented Karen, who said she never used an outrageous excuse to get out of a day of work. She has, however, heard excuses that may take things too far. "My children are sick or somebody died in the family," she explained. "That's really pathetic!"
One thing to watch out for, whether you're taking a "mental health day" or telling your boss that you're sick, is what you post on social media.
"People are calling out for Halloween, putting up pictures of them in some crazy Halloween costume," Aaron said, describing stories told to him from some of his friends. "They're getting pulled in the office the next day (the boss) saying 'What's going on here?'"
One in four employers surveyed reported catching the sick employee in a lie on Facebook or Twitter.
