Curiously, Lauryn's list of behaviors that are likely to ensure career failure seems to be missing a key item: calling in sick with a lame excuse. So, as a public service to our SafetyXChange members, here are 10 actual excuses that employers say their employees have used to explain why they weren't coming in to work.

1. I was poisoned by my mother-in-law.
2. A buffalo escaped from the game reserve and kept charging me every time I tried to leave the house and get into my car.
3. I was feeling all the symptoms of my expecting wife.
4. I broke my leg snowboarding off my roof while drunk.
5. I was locked in a restroom stall and no one was around to let me out.
6. I blew my nose so hard that it threw out my back.
7. My dog swallowed my bus pass.
8. I had a bad case of hiccups.
9. A skunk got into my house and sprayed my uniform.
10. My wife said I couldn't go to work because I had a lot of chores to do around the house.

Source: Careerbuilder.com, 2006

Story Tools:  Email This Post  Print This Post Top