Lighter side: The things employees will do for a day off …
April 24, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In This Week's E-Newsletter, Latest News & Views, Retention
Everyone in HR has heard some pretty wild excuses from employees about why they’ve taken days off. But wait until you hear how far this employee went for a personal day.
Police in Kingston, Ontario, were called to the scene by a man who claimed two thugs assaulted him on his way to work and tried to steal his wallet.
The man had a swollen lip and a possible broken nose, the Whig Standard reports.
After questioning him, the police began noticing holes in his story. Eventually, he broke down and told the truth: He’d punched himself in the face several times and concocted the mugging story to use as an excuse to skip work.
Police didn’t release the name of the man’s employer, but the officer who questioned him said, “I can only assume that they didn’t have a great sick plan where he works.”
In the end, the cops were kind enough to give the “victim” what he wanted. He got the day off — but he had to spend the day in jail for filing a false police report.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen an employee do for a day off? Let us know in the comments section below.
Tags: absence excuses, day off, police
May 1st, 2009 at 11:19 am
I actually work with a guy that claims his wife had cancer (in two separate parts of her body), his mother had a stroke, the same mother took care of his two children a month later for days while the alleged cancer stricken wife had other medical issues and needed him by her side. Followed by funerals every three months, and a house fire that amazingly enough didn’t totally ruin their trailer home. He gets paid for all of this terrible misfortune, and yet never produces a funeral bulletin, medical discharge papers, or any other proof that these things have happened. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t wish this type of misfortune on my worst enemy, but how much bad luck does one guy have? I also happen to know for a fact that his mother never had the stroke, as he and his family were with me (we used to be friends) when he called in for that occasion. Hence, being completely able to watch the grandchildren a month later. Most recently, he claims he broke his hip, and just two days later, he was up and down the ladders we use at work. How pathetic.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I once received a call from an employee who reported that she had to take the day off because she was up all night with her sick fish in her fish pond in her back yard, and she was too tired to come to work.
I also had an employee call from jail to tell me that he would not be in work since the police caught him smoking a joint on the street and he was arrested. He said not worry because he was being release and would be back tomorrow.
May 4th, 2009 at 9:15 am
I had an employee use his one phone call request an FMLA leave for the 3 months he would be in a CT jail.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
To Liz: This sounds alot like my daughters room-mate at college. She always has a reason she can’t make it to class. I wonder what her professors think. You would think that after so many excuses that it has to catch up with them.
May 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Not at my place of employment, but my wife had a colleague call in because she was not getting enough sunlight…she was going kayaking. God bless her honesty. She revealed this in a mass email to her office. Funny thing was, to me, this was acceptable behavior in this work environment.
May 6th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
When I first began my career in HR we had an employee call to say she wouldn’t be in that day due to the fact she was stuck in quick sand, in NJ. We couldn’t figure out how she made the call because it was long before cell phones were popular. Needless to say, she was terminated.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I had an employee call in once saying that they couldn’t come in since they had to “stay home close to the toilet” it “it was coming out both ends. Needless to say that was TMI. I think a call or email stating that you are not well would suffice but some managers don’t believe excuses and employees go into unnessary details. I also overheard an employee state that they pinched their nose when they called in to speak to their boss to sound like they have a bad cold. I am sure we will have a lot of false HiNi excuses with the flu.