'You are trying to call off work because your horoscope is wrong?': 20+ ridiculous excuses for calling in sick

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    I had a coworker that would call in sick on release dates for new computer games. 549 Share
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    r/AskReddit. Posted by u/Complaintguy Managers. What is the silliest reason you have had an employee call in sick? 2.4k Comments
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    dhdnen They're superstitious and refuse to work on any Friday that falls on the 13th because something bad always happens to them. The same person also once told me he cut his hand on a banana. 4.5k Share
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    PMurthongforscience. Not really sick but "I know you're not going to believe this, some homeless man broke into my house last night and stole all of my pants. I will not be able to make it in today because I have to file a police report and have no pants to wear." Turned out he had gotten dr of his pants into the recycle for some reason. 2.3k and put all Share
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    badal mojamma. I'm not a manager, but I'm a floor installer, and I run my own crew from time to time. We had this one guy who is constantly complaining about how broke he is and how he NEEDS to work so badly, and yet he just didnt ever want to actually show up. Heres a selection of my favorite of his excuses. 1. There was a construction truck parked blocking his driveway. I thought "why not ask them to move?"
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    2. Someone had allegedly been "messing with him" and slowly letting the air out of his tires. Clearly they couldnt possibly be leaking. They were only 5 years old!
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    3. Someone had broken into his vehicle under cover of night, removed the motor that operates the windows, and replaced it with a burnt out one on the driver's side, so now his window barely works. I mean the cars only about 13 years old. Couldnt be wearing out by itself. We offered this dude a full time job, with a guaranteed permanent position if he proves himself. He proved that he would rather come up with ANY reason to not work. 2.1k Share ...
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    [deleted] had a lady call in and say she couldn't come into work because everything was wrong, i asked her to elaborate, she said venus was retrograde with mercury and because she is a capricorn she is vulnerable and can't come into work as everything is terrible, i'm like "you are trying to call off work because your horoscope is wrong?". she screamed "omg i knew you wouldn't understand, you are such an ares" and slammed the phone on me. she didn't last long..... ↑ 1.5k Share
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    [deleted] This doesn't count because I ended up going in. Not proud of it, but my boss and I got a hardy laugh. I was a landscaper back in my later teens. I had gotten dr the night before with my buddies because the forecast said tons of rain in the morning. I get home and pass out, get a phone call in morning from my boss asking where I was. Nearly comatose I say, "it's raining... isn't it?" He laughs and says, "get to work." I told him my night and my thought process, he laughed even harder. I
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    Captain Jake_K. "I've got back pain, because I fell off the back of a motorcycle." "That's fine mate, come in when you're-" "Well, the doctor said it could be the motorcycle. Or it could be my office chair." "Okay, well, if-" "We're waiting on the results from the blood test." "You're taking a blood test to see if your back pain is from sitting in an old chair or faling off a motorcycle?" "Yes." He just kept going until it was obvious he was lying. 1.3k Share
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    [deleted] When I was a manager, the reason given I most remember is: "My garage door opener broke and I can't get up." ↑ 1.1k ↓ Share
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    Complaintguy OP. Mine is about a girl who called in sick with a cold and sore throat, on their return to work I asked if it had been started or caused by work, expecting them to say no. Instead they said yes, surprised I asked them to explain. "well I was making a pot noodle in the kitchen, and the window was open... So as I was opened the sachet of powder the wind blew through the window and all the power went down my throat, hence my cold and sore throat" ✩864 Share
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    IComeFromDaOcean. When making her morning coffee, grounds got in her cup and then her creamer was bad. So because her coffee was all wrong she couldn't come into work that day. 780 Share
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    educemail · 4 I once called in because I went too hard on leg day... and I NEVER call sick unless if I am booked off. My boss didn't believe me and told me to come into work... which I did (I was 2 hours late) the boss and the CEO saw me waddling 5cm at a time and both told me to go home. I refused because I already put in all the effort to get there, not gonna waste it... interestingly I became a manager and am lucky to not have gotten any silly reasons 574 Share
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    4. [deleted] I had a coworker that would call in sick on release dates for new computer games. 1549 ↓ Share
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    PumpingIguana Called in sick. We generally don't ask why for the first 2 weeks. After two weeks we have to involve company doctor. Company doctor reported back. Breast enlargement. We were told by HR not to make a fuzz even though it was not a good reason to call in sick. There was no previous history. 503 Share
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    JOLlymAnGinA. Not actually a silly reason to work but still it's kind of related. I work at a small fast food restaurant and it has very few staff, way too few if you ask me. I cover a LOT of shifts for my boss (like sometimes twice a week). I called in sick one day, and no one could cover my shift. My boss managed to convince one of my co- workers to cover 1/3 of my shift. He then told me 'I owe him one.' off mate, you owe me way more than I owe you.
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    Cdn_ITAdmin. Obligatory not a manager but, going to tell on myself for a silly out-sick reason. I once had to call out sick because my mother brought home a puppy, set it on my lap where he fell asleep, and then left to go out shopping and I didn't know when she'd be back. I wasn't really a dog person and I was the only one home, and this was a brand new animal in the house that I had to keep out of things, so I called in because I had a puppy asleep on my lap.
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    My boss was less than thrilled that that was my reason, but the way I saw it I had little other choice. The dog didn't have a crate or anywhere I'd feel safe leaving him for five minutes, let alone five hours. Still kept my job and got to explain the situation better when I went in the next day. Boss was initially angry on the phone but with more context (and a chat with his wife) and he understood a bit better.
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    Bonus icing on the cake to that day? The puppy woke up at some point and started making a low grumbly noise. I didn't know what he was doing so I brought him over to my bed to pet him and check him over, make sure he was okay. He needed to pee, so he on my bed. sakes. 478 Share
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    lionheart41269. I used to work at a trampoline park and we had one guy who was super greedy when taking parties. He called the store one day and would only speak to me since I was his favorite manager. He asked if there were any parties assigned to him and I said no. He then replied with, "I'm not coming in, i don't feel too good." I told my general manager and he said .... and wrote him up for it. ↑ 422 ↓ Share
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    Djinjja-Ninja It was me... I phoned work to tell them I wouldn't be in because I had locked myself in my house. I had just moved house that weekend. Didn't yet have a key for the back door, locked the front door Sunday evening from the inside and went to bed. Woke up Monday morning, turned the key in the lock and it just sheared off leaving the door locked from the inside with remains of the key in the hole.
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    Had to ring up the letting agent and get them to come let me out with their spare key, was 4 hours late to work. There was much taking when I got to work. 405 Share
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    Captain Wisconsin Had an employee call in sick, saying it was the flu. An hour later, he checked in at George Webb (Milwaukee restaurant chain) on Facebook, and posted a photo of himself standing in a line outside of the restaurant that was three or four blocks long, waiting for a free hamburger that the restaurant was giving away because the Milwaukee Brewers won twelve games in a row. 363 Share
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    ammobox. Some of my favorites when I was a manager. I can't come in today cause it's too windy and I can't drive my car.
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    I can't come in today because my cell phone broke and I need to go buy a new one, calling from my friends phone.
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    I can't come in because I missed the bus and being an hour late won't be worth the money I'd make being there on time.
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    I can't come in today because my work pants ripped and I don't have any other pairs. You can just wear normal pants today. No no, that wouldn't be professional and fair to you. 340 Share

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