Dive Brief:
- One-third of respondents in a CareerBuilder study said they're late for work once a month, up from last year's rate of 25%. For weekly tardiness among respondents, that number was 16%, up from 3% last year. The survey polled 2,600 HR and hiring managers and 3,400 employees from different industries.
- CareerBuilder released what it calls employees' "most outrageous excuses" for being late to work. Four of the top excuses included: "I was cornered by a moose," "My mother-in-law wouldn't stop talking," "My pet turtle needed to visit the exotic animal clinic," and "The pizza I ordered was late being delivered, and I had to be home to accept/pay for it."
- The more common complaints for being late to work are: Traffic (49%), oversleeping (32%), bad weather (26%), too tired to get out of bed (25%) and procrastination (17%).
Dive Insight:
Other favorite examples: "I had to chase my cows back into the field," and "My lizard had to have emergency surgery in the morning and died during surgery. I had to mourn while deciding whether to have the lizard disposed of by the vet or bring the lizard corpse with me to work."
While these examples are humorous (and a little strange), chronic tardiness can be a drag on productivity.
Employers must consider whether a worker who's chronically late has personal difficulties, and would benefit from an employee assistance program which might help resolve the problems contributing to their lateness.