Calling in Sick
Regardless of how generous a company’s PTO/sick policy, employees still call in ‘sick’ to have a day off of work. The excuses vary from vague “I’m not feeling well” to too much information “I’ve been up all night ___”. But there are those special individuals, who take calling in sick to the next level. CareerBuilder.com just published its top 10 list of most bizarre excuses for getting out of work. — "Oh, sorry, I just put a casserole in the oven." — "I got some plastic surgery enhancement done, but it needs a little tweaking to get right." — "I sat in the bathroom too long and my legs and feet fell asleep, so when I finally stood up, I fell over and broke my ankle." — "It was a big casino weekend for me, so imagine my surprise that I still had some money left to play with on Monday morning." — "I woke up in such a good mood that I didn't want to ruin it." — "Sorry, I got lucky last night, but I woke up and have no idea where I am." — "I was taking my blood pressure with the machine at the grocery store and got stuck and couldn't get out." — "I've got a gallstone and am trying to heal it holistically." — "My uniform was still wet, so I put it in the microwave to dry and it caught on fire." — "Really sorry, but I accidentally got on a plane and I'm not in town."
Unless a company wants to invest time in checking up on their employee’s excuses, it may be better to give them the benefit of the doubt. Unless the excuses become too frequent. Most companies require a doctor's note, but many are starting to use social media to check on the validity of someone’s excuses. Although the excuses listed above could get points for creativity, honesty is the best policy, and no excuse is necessary if you use one of your allotted number of absences.
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