Bogus work excuses on the rise: 'God didn't wake me'

[jazz lady]

NEW YORK - Off-the-wall reasons for calling off sick are on the rise as U.S. workers are increasingly willing to blame everything from wet cement and snakes to ghosts and a higher power to get a day off from work, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

This year, 43 percent of U.S. workers called in sick when they felt fine, up from 35 percent that did so last year, the survey of 2,450 employees from CareerBuilder.com showed.

Reasons not to show up for work ranged from: "I was too drunk to drive to work" to "I forgot I was getting married today." One employee who did not believe in alarm clocks told the boss that "God didn't wake me."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051004...0Sdk3QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

 

[Lenny]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051004...0Sdk3QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

"Hello, boss. I can't make it into the office today. I got exhausted last night playing Jazz."

 

[jazz lady]

"Hello, boss. I can't make it into the office today. I got exhausted last night playing Jazz."

Actually, I almost didn't make it into work today. Jazz was playing too hard last night.

 

[vraiblonde]

There was a story in my Fortune Small Business magazine this month about managing 20-something aged workers. The gist was that these kids have come to expect coddling - big perks, lots of time off, "suggestions" as opposed to directives - and the article touted several corporations who have basically turned their business into a playground in order to attract these "up-and-comers". And they talked about this like it was a good thing!

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/smallbusiness/managing/articles/0,15114,1107418,00.html

But Schubring is more demanding than that: He asked his boss for five weeks off last summer to finish writing his second mystery novel. Inflexible? He insisted on an employer located within 300 miles of where his parents live. Self-indulgent? One of his key criteria for a job was that he have enough time to cook, fish, swim, and socialize. If all that makes Schubring sound like an applicant you'd gladly refer to a competitor, consider that increasingly he is the kind of package that talent comes wrapped in.

So now we don't have to worry about the US losing its super-power status - these kids (and their employers) will make absolutely SURE that we do.