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TD Magazine Article

Sickness of Another Sort

In a recent CareerBuilder survey, employers relayed the most outrageous excuses they’ve ever heard from employees calling in sick.

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Sat Mar 08 2014

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Sickness of Another Sort-822474187773a67622f124112d6676f0356e5f9c58fc69a142ea99000ee16ba3

In a recent CareerBuilder survey, employers relayed the most outrageous excuses they've ever heard from employees calling in sick. The best thing you might say for some of these truants is that they're honest—or that catching a cold is the least of their worries.

  • Employee was quitting smoking and was grouchy.

  • Employee's favorite football team lost on Sunday so he needed Monday to recover.

  • Employee's false teeth flew out the window while driving down the highway.

  • Employee said the chemical in turkey made him fall asleep and he missed his shift.

  • Employee got lost and ended up in another state.

  • Employee received a threatening phone call from the electric company and needed to report it to the FBI.

  • Employee's fake eye was falling out of its socket.

  • Employee felt like he was so angry he was going to hurt someone if he came in.

  • Employee needed to finish Christmas shopping.

  • Employee couldn't decide what to wear.

Employees offering up fishy reasons for taking the day off should heed this warning: 30 percent of employers say they've checked in on employees to make sure the excuse was legitimate. Most of these employers required doctor's notes, but some have called the employee, checked their social media posts, or even driven past the employee's house.

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March 2014 - TD Magazine

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