 | 18 Jun 08 |
I had to let an employee go last week, which is never a pleasant thing to do. Normally I let my managers take care of the hiring and firing because they’re the ones who have to work with those choices every day. This person, however, so took the cake, I had to eyeball her to find out if she really believed the stories she’d been telling about why she was late all the time. That was our biggest challenge with her—tardiness. N-e-v-e-r on time and often times simply not showing up at all. The sad thing was she did a decent job once you had her here….it was just getting her here. Then of course there were the stories. If she was telling such whoppers just to cover her butt for being late, what else was being exaggerated? Below are ten of the better excuses she used for being late or not coming into work at all . ..
1. I was flooded in, couldn’t get out of my driveway because of the ‘national’ disaster. (It had rained a quarter of an inch the night before.)
2. I had to go to Texas to see a dentist because all the ones out here were booked up six months in advance. (She had to get her teeth cleaned.)
3. I can’t stay late and make up my work because I’ve got to tutor my sister in math. (She only had two brothers.)
4. My grandmother died. (For the 3rd time)
5. I had a flat tire and lost my jack.
6. I was dizzy and couldn’t get out of bed.
7. My mom’s in the hospital having gall bladder surgery. (Her mom showed up at the office an hour later to bring her a jar of preserved figs.)
8. Someone stole my alarm clock, so I didn’t have it to set to wake up on time.
9. My son has the measles. (again?)
10. The air conditioner in my apartment went out last night, so I didn’t go to sleep until like 3 A.M. because it was so hot.
11. I have to go see my doctor because I’m out of hormone patches, and I get all emotional when I don’t have my patches.
Argg! Just writing them down drives me nuts! What’s the wildest excuse you’ve ever heard someone use for being late or not showing up?
© 2008 – 2009 Deborah LeBlanc. All rights reserved.
Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning author and business owner from Lafayette, Louisiana. She's also a licensed death scene investigator and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams.
She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, president of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter, and an active member of Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, she created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual national campaign designed to encourage more people to read, and founded Literacy Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.
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I can’t think of any wild excuses offhand.
But, it just amazes me that some people have the guts to tell obvious lies and then not even blink an eye when they get caught out.
I’ve had my car break down on the way to work, and I still got there on time. Even with my air conditioner working it sometimes stays so hot in my apartment during the summer that I don’t sleep well. I still manage to get up and get my work done for the day…even though I work at home and my boss is clear in Scotland and I could sleep in in the morning, when it finally cools off enough to sleep. I’ve also had vertigo so bad (from allergies that affect my inner ear) that the room was spinning, but I still managed to get up and work.
I guess people like the employee you dismissed wouldn’t like to work for me, either, since I wouldn’t be very sympathetic to such a litany of excuses.
by Elaine June 18th, 2008 at 10:55 amThose are some doozies! I had a lady call in one time to me (the secretary at the time) instead of her boss and tell me she was going to be late because she thought it was Saturday and hadn’t set her alarm. What was really funny is that she was known for taking buses to Tunica to gamble, and she called in using the toll-free number and it showed up on the caller ID. I’ve never tried the Saturday thing before…maybe I need to try!
by Erin June 18th, 2008 at 11:09 amYikes! I cant imagine being that irresponsible. I freak out when I am going to be late – even if its only a few minutes. Most morning I leave for work with a 20 minute cushion for traffic, and I still worry about being late to work. About two or three weeks ago I was late twice in the same week because of traffic, there is really only one way for me to get to work and both days there were two accidents on the road and a drive that normally takes about 35-40 minutes took close to 2 hours, so there was no way I was going to make it on time. The first day I called and got voice mail – my boss was stuck in traffic on the other side of the city. The second day I was so nervous calling thinking that she wouldn’t believe me. But traffic problems are so common here that I had nothing to worry about. I am sure I will freak out again the next time it happens – its just in my nature.
by Tiffany June 18th, 2008 at 12:23 pmGeez, those are whoppers. What happened to work ethic? Sheesh. I broke my foot and still showed up on time. Of course, I had to ask the boss if I could take an early lunch to go buy crutches, but I was only gone an hour.
by B.E. Sanderson June 18th, 2008 at 3:55 pmWow! That person not only deserved to be fired, but should have an “Unreliable” warning tattooed to her forehead for the next employer.
I once held a position with firing skills, and had to let a girl go for barfing in the wastebasket – she herself was wasted from the previous night. O.K., that sounds harsh, but she also showed up late on several occasions, and my boss was gunning to get rid of her, so I was the hatchet man and that was the final act.
by Kathy Calarco June 18th, 2008 at 4:02 pmThat is ridiculous. Though I haven’t heard excuses like that, I work with someone who calls in sick every four weeks on a Monday. I can always guess exactly when it will be, and it’s always the same thing: “I have strep throat”. I would like to tell her that strep throat isn’t a here today gone tomorrow thing that goes away without treatment, but she isn’t my employee, just a coworker. She always leaves a voice mail, too, which I don’t agree with. We all know she’s full of s**t. I just don’t understand why she can’t just say “I’m sick, I won’t be in today” or something.
by Emma Sanders June 18th, 2008 at 4:40 pmOkay, I found the one about her alarm clock being stolen funny. Someone stole your alarm clock? Why? LOL!
I worked a retail job once where we needed to be in the store half an hour early to set up the cases (jewelry). The boss was ALWAYS late. And he had the key. He’d get there sometimes 5 minutes before opening and we’d race to put the cases together. The best one was the day I said screw it and came with my twist curlers in, figuring I’d get inside and finish my hair before opening. He was so late I ended up waiting on a customer with blue and pink hot curlers in my hair.
Not exactly a late excuse, but still funny when I look back on it. Oh, and he never had an excuse. He didn’t even bother making one up. When I worked with him in the morning, I finally got smart enough to show up 5 minutes before opening. On the days he beat me there, rarely, I didn’t bother with an excuse either. We did that for 5 years. Thank God I left.
by Lynn Raye Harris June 19th, 2008 at 5:23 amI’ve missed reading this blog…
Wow, that’s impressive. If I wasn’t my own boss I might think of using some of those creative ideas.
by ktzmom June 19th, 2008 at 10:10 am