It might not come as a surprise that employees calling in to work sick aren’t always sick, but a new survey has revealed some surprising excuses employers say they’ve been given.
The survey, conducted by Chicago-based CareerBuilder, shows 28 percent of employees have called in to work sick when they were feeling well.
While almost half of employees say they have a “paid time off” program that allows them to use their time off however they choose, 23 percent of those workers say they still feel obligated to make up an excuse for taking a day off.
But the creativity of some excuses has some employees raising their eyebrows.
From putting a casserole in the oven to “accidentally” getting on a plane to having a "lucky night" and not knowing where they were, the unbelievable reasons employees called in to work are quite surprising.
While the outrageous excuses might come as a surprise, not every employee is playing hooky. A majority of workers feel they do not have the luxury to take a sick day and more than half of employees said they have gone into work sick because they felt the work wouldn't get done otherwise, the survey noted.
Though the majority of employers say they give their employees the benefit of the doubt, 31 percent of those surveyed said they have checked to see if an employee was telling the truth. Some asked to see a doctor’s note, some called the employee, and some even drove past the employee’s house.
Local
Nearly 1 in 5 employers have fired an employee for calling in sick with a fake excuse.
How are these employees being caught in a lie?
Nearly 24 percent of employers say they caught an employee lying about being sick by checking social media. So think twice next time you post a photo of your adventures to Facebook or tweet about your day off.
