'My Hair Caught On Fire': The Strangest Late-To-Work Excuses
CHICAGO (CBS) – Everyone's been late to work at one point or another, but a new report shows some are getting pretty creative with their explanations.
CareerBuilder is out with its annual look at the most bizarre late-to-work excuses. The job search website asked more than 2,500 employers to share the outrageous justifications they've received from tardy workers.
These aren't your run-of-the-mill "traffic was bad" answers. Some sound pretty dire, including "My hair caught on fire from my blow dryer," "I was detained by Homeland Security" and "A Vaseline truck overturned on the highways and cars were slipping left and right."
Animals are often a key part of the wackiest excuses. Three of those made the list – "I had to chase my cows back into the field," "A Black bear entered my carport and decided to take a nap on the hood of my car," and "My lizard had to have emergency surgery."
Finally, some of the excuses seem to be from people who don't seem too invested in their job to begin with, including "I thought of quitting today, but then decided not to" and "I had to finish watching 'My Name is Earl.'"
CareerBuilder notes that while schedules have become more flexible, more than 40 percent of employers have fired someone for being late.
Setting the strangest excuses aside, traffic is the number one thing employees blame for being late at 53 percent, followed by oversleeping and bad weather.
