Open thread for Sunday

ACareerBuilder survey shows that 15% of workers now say they get to work late one day a week or more. That’s down from 16% in 2009 and 20% in 2008.


Workers shared a variety of reasons for being tardy, with the top excuse being traffic-related (30%), followed by lack of sleep (19%).

Nine percent blamed the bad weather for their tardiness, while 8% said a delay in getting their kids to daycare or school made them late. Other common reasons included public transportation, wardrobe issues or dealing with pets.

Here are some excuses employers have heard:

• The old bee problem. Employee said his car was inhabited by a hive of bees and he couldn’t use the car for two hours until bees left.


• Killer cat. Employee claimed their cat attacked them.

• Dear bus driver. Employee said the bus was late and produced a note signed by “The Bus Driver.”

• You can’t rush beauty. Employee said his Botox appointment took longer than he expected.

• A real headache. Employee claimed his hair was hurting his head.

• The price of love. Employee said she did not get any sleep because her boyfriend’s wife threw them out of the house.

• What the heck. Employee knew they were already going to be late, so they figured they’d go ahead and stop to get donuts for everyone.

• Cosmic interference. Employee claimed their Karma was not in sync that day.

• Dangerous dinnerware. Employee said they got hurt taking a fork out of the dishwasher.

• Time is relative. Employee claimed they weren’t late … the company clock was wrong.