10 Really Unusual Sick Day Excuses


If you think you've heard every bad sick excuse, think again. Career Builder recently released results to an annual survey, in which one-third of employers say people call in sick the most during the Winter. Perhaps more people are getting sick because of the weather changes or maybe it's just harder to get out of your toasty bed on a cold and gloomy day.
The poll also found that 29 percent of employees admitted to playing hooky this year. Here are some of the strangest sick day excuses they found in their poll:
  • "Bats got in her hair."
  • "Got a cold from a puppy."
  • "Hurt his back chasing a beaver."
  • "Had a headache after going to too many garage sales."
  • "Brother-in-law was kidnapped by a drug cartel while in Mexico."
  • "Ate too much at a party."
  • "A refrigerator fell on him."
  • "Got his toe caught in a vent cover."
  • "Drank anti-freeze by mistake and had to go to the hospital."
  • "Deer bit him during hunting season."
Alison Doyle

Top 10 Excuses for Calling in Sick

By , About.com Guide   October 23, 2011
There are lots of excuses employees use when they call in sick or otherwise take a day off from work. Some of the excuses are more creative than others and some work - and some don't. When it doesn't work you could be in trouble.
A CareerBuilder survey reports that 15% of employers have fired a worker for calling in without a legitimate reason. 28% have checked up on the employee, even driving by their house, to be sure they really are sick.
In the questionable excuse category, employers listed the most unusual excuses workers gave when they called in. Here are the top 10 unusual excuses given for calling in sick:
  1. Employee's 12-year-old daughter stole his car and he had no other way to work. Employee didn't want to report it to the police.
  2. Employee said bats got in her hair.
  3. Employee said a refrigerator fell on him.
  4. Employee was in line at a coffee shop when a truck carrying flour backed up and dumped the flour into her convertible.
  5. Employee said a deer bit him during hunting season.
  6. Employee ate too much at a party.
  7. Employee fell out of bed and broke his nose.
  8. Employee got a cold from a puppy.
  9. Employee's child stuck a mint up his nose and had to go to the ER to remove it.
  10. Employee hurt his back chasing a beaver.
If you're looking for a more reasonable excuse for calling into work, here are excuses to use when you need to miss work and you don't have a legitimate excuse to give your boss. If you have a good excuse for taking time off for an interview, add it to our collection of interview excuses.