Thirty percent of workers called in sick during the past year even when they weren't ill, according to a CareerBuilder survey. In addition, the survey found the holiday season tends to be the busiest time for sick calls.
Here are a few of the more interesting explanations employees gave for their requests for sick leave:
- Employee's sobriety tool wouldn't allow the car to start
- Employee forgot he had been hired for the job
- Employee said her dog was having a nervous breakdown
- Employee's dead grandmother was being exhumed for a police investigation
- Employee's toe was stuck in a faucet
- Employee said a bird bit her
- Employee was upset after watching "The Hunger Games"
- Employee got sick from reading too much
- Employee was suffering from a broken heart
- Employee's hair turned orange from dying her hair at home
The study included 2,494 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 3,976 workers.
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