9 Craziest Excuses for Being Late

Every office has it. That one person who is consistently late for everything. A recent survey by CareerBuilder indicates that over a quarter of workers admit to being late at least once a week. 16% are late once a week or more.

Traffic, children, and “broken” alarm clocks aside; what were some of the more interesting reasons for individuals being late? Let’s look at the top 9:

Employee dropped her purse into a coin-operated newspaper box and couldn’t retrieve it without change (which was in the purse)
Employee accidentally left the apartment with his roommate’s girlfriend’s shoes on and had to go back to change
Employee’s angry wife had frozen his truck keys in a glass of water in the freezer
Employee got a late start because she was putting a rain coat on her cement duck in her front yard (because rain was expected later that day)
Employee’s car wouldn’t start because the breathalyzer showed he was intoxicated
Employee attempted to cut his own hair before work and the clippers stopped working, so he had to wait until the barber shop opened to fix his hair
Employee’s car was attacked by a bear (had photographic evidence)
Employee drove to her previous employer by mistake
Employee claimed to have delivered a stranger’s baby on the side of the highway

At some point, however, the excuses become a habit. Over 30% of the managers surveyed said they’ve had to fire someone over their lateness issues.

What’s the craziest excuse you’ve ever been given for someone being late? Share in the comments below.

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