Bowling Ball Woes and Other Stories Absent Employees Tell…

A CareerBuilder news release said the latest excuses proffered for missing work included that the employee said:

• a chicken attacked his mom;
• a cow broke into her house and she had to wait for the insurance man; and
• he wasn’t feeling too clever that day.

Other “explanations” from stay-at-home types included that the employee:

• was in a boat on Lake Erie and ran out of gas and the Coast Guard towed him to the Canadian side;
• had a hair transplant gone bad;
• had a finger stuck in a bowling ball;
• fell asleep at his desk while working and hit his head, causing a neck injury;
• caught his foot in the garbage disposal; and
• had to mow the lawn to avoid a lawsuit from the homeowner’s association.

Finally there were these creative tales:

• Employee’s girlfriend threw a Sit n Spin through his living room window;
• Employee called in sick from a bar at 5:00 p.m. the night before; and
• Employee called in the day after Thanksgiving because she burned her mouth on a pumpkin pie.

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,457 U.S. hiring managers and 3,125 U.S. workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government) ages 18 and over.