Have you ever called into work when you weren't really sick? What did you tell your boss? CareerBuilder's annual absentee survey shows that 29-percent of employees skipped work at least once in the past year when they weren't ill -- which is down from 32-percent in 2009. While 60-percent of employers note they let workers use sick time for "mental health days," 29-percent admit they check up on those who check out for the day. Seven out of ten bosses who want evidence of illness ask for a doctor's note. Half of the employers will call their ill workers at home, while 18-percent have someone else call. Fifteen-percent say they take a ride past their sick employee's home.
But when it comes to making up reasons for missing work, employees have come up with a wide variety of excuses. Bosses say some of the most unusual are situational, such as, quote, "Employee had to mow the lawn to avoid a lawsuit from the home owner's association," "Employee's finger was stuck in a bowling ball," "Employee's foot was caught in the garbage disposal," and "Employee was in a boat on Lake Erie, ran out of gas and the coast guard towed him to the Canadian side." Some strange excuses blame animals, like, quote, "Employee said a cow broke into her house and she had to wait for the insurance man" or "Employee said a chicken attacked his mom."
A couple of unusual excuses actually involve some form of physical ailment, such as, quote, "Employee fell asleep at his desk while working and hit his head, causing a neck injury" and "Employee called in sick from a bar at 5 p.m. the night before." But a few are just odd, like, quote, "Employee had a hair transplant gone bad," "Employee called in the day after Thanksgiving because she burned her mouth on a pumpkin pie," "Employee's girlfriend threw a Sit 'n Spin through his living room window," and "Employee said he wasn't feeling too clever that day."
