Survey says: Snow excuse for lateness is tip of the iceberg
With so many of those winter storms hitting right at morning commute time, bosses must be pretty numb by now over the snow card being played by employees who are late for work.
Come on, people, how about something more inspired and entertaining? Such as, traffic was delayed due to a zebra running down the highway? Or, my cat got stuck in the toilet?
Or, I forgot that the company changed locations!
Yes, indeed, these doozies were real excuses that employers said they've heard -- this in a study done late last year for CareerBuilder, operator of a career website, with 2,201 managers and human resources professionals responding, as well as 3,008 full-time workers.
Other jaw-droppers included the employees:
Arriving to work, but then falling asleep in the car;
Accidentally mistaking super glue for contact lens solution, resulting in a trip to the emergency room;
Thinking Halloween was a workplace holiday.
Of a far less astonishing nature were the most common excuses that workers say they give: traffic, reported by 39 percent; lack of sleep, 19 percent; public transportation issues, 8 percent; bad weather, 7 percent; dropping kids off at school or with caretakers, 6 percent.
With just over a third of the employers saying that tardiness has been a firing offense, workers might want to take advice from Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder's vice president of human resources.
She suggested in a media release that they, "consider regularly checking the weather forecast for their commute, setting up alerts from any public transportation they use, or getting more done the night before so they're not rushed in the morning."
Haefner included no comment as to avoiding roadway zebra encounters.
Everything you need to know about Election Day and more from NewsdayTV
Everything you need to know about Election Day and more from NewsdayTV