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The feeling-ill excuse is a short-term solution that won’t win you any fans at the office—someone else will have to pick up the slack, or you’ll miss deadlines. Instead, here are 10 excuses—five smart and five not-so-smart—to help you save face and your sanity. As soon as you know that you won’t be able to work, give your boss a phone call or send them a message. If you wake up at 6 am with a migraine or you’re up with a sick child at 3 am, you can even go ahead and send them an email at this hour. Then, within work hours, it’s a good idea to follow up and confirm the message was received.
- You need to be honest when giving an excuse for missing work.
- Maybe the person picking up relatives can’t make it or maybe this is a last-minute situation.
- If you say you have a sick child, you don’t need to share every symptom as proof that they’re not feeling well.
- An ice breaker question is a question that’s asked from one person to another person in order to act as a conversation starter.
Yet research shows that people are still embarrassed to take a day off for such reasons. Here are some insufficient reasons you must avoid if you don’t want to get in trouble. However, it’s a go-to-excuse used by everyone once https://remotemode.net/blog/10-valid-reasons-to-call-out-of-work/ in their life. Anonymously rate your current or former employer now to unlock our one-of-a-kind resources. I have a previously scheduled medical appointment that I cannot reschedule, and it falls during work hours today.
Not feeling well
In that case, don’t be afraid to go to your general practitioner or a local health clinic. Not only will you get the proof you need, but you’ll likely get some treatment to speed up your recovery. For example, a bad excuse to call out of work would be a death in the family (family emergencies). Your employer will most likely care about the fact that someone passed away in your family. This means you’ll have to tell more lies in the future, which isn’t great.
Suppose you need to get out of work in the future and know the date. Then you can use a last-minute excuse the day you need to use it. Or decide it’s better to take a vacation or unpaid workday. If they follow up with you and ask why you don’t sound stuffy or something along those lines. Then explain what type of illness or bug it was and move on.
Good Reasons to Call in Sick and Miss Work at the Last Minute (with Examples)
Follow those rules to a tee to avoid any confusion and frustration. Of course, your health is the most important thing of all. Doctor’s appointments are a good excuse to miss work for a few hours (or an entire day depending on the situation). Last-minute important deliveries that require a signature can be a valid excuse for calling off work as well.
In either case, you don’t want to leave them stranded at the airport or train station. This can happen any time of the year but especially during the holidays as we usually send and receive more packages. Some require signatures in order to be delivered and you may need to take some time off to ensure you are home when the package arrives. This has become an acceptable excuse since COVID-19 came upon the scene. If you’ve been exposed, you may want to check CDC guidelines and follow any recommended quarantine guidance and take some time off if needed.
Feeling sick
While your childcare arrangements might cover things most of the time, you might suddenly encounter problems when you cannot utilize your usual arrangements. On top of all that, there’s the risk of spreading the illness to your coworkers. No manager wants to deal with a sweeping sickness that takes out the entire team. Instead, it would help if you tried to find the reason behind your tiredness. It maybe because you were up all night or had to take care of a sick child.
It’s best to avoid getting into a situation where you need to miss work at the last minute, however oftentimes many things are not within our control. Like you, your boss is human, and they too sometimes call out of work due to various reasons. If you have a kid, you never need to make up any excuse; kids demand a lot of time and attention and nobody is going to object to you missing work to attend to your child’s needs. Here’s an obvious one that works only if you are not currently in the office and if you commute to work. Everyone knows that machines fail, usually at the most inopportune times, and the result is often beyond your control. Breaking a tooth or having a filling fall out can be extremely painful and need immediate dental attention.
You Have House Maintenance Issues
Maybe you’re moving to a new apartment or juggling home renovations on top of your work schedule. Or maybe you’ve hit a bout of challenges and need to take a mental health day. Whatever you’re dealing with, a personal day could be what you need to stay sane, run errands, and catch up on life. Despite your best efforts, there will be days when you have to miss work with little to no notice. Illnesses, accidents, or family emergencies are always legitimate reasons for missing work at the last minute. Just make sure you contact your boss as soon as you can, and don’t overuse these excuses.
First, you never want to say anything that suggests you failed to plan ahead or that you didn’t let them know promptly. Don’t give a reason that sounds like it’s something you would have known about days before. Always think to yourself about how the excuse sounds before you call in on short notice. Ask yourself, “Does this sound realistic that I’d only be finding out at the last minute? Pets also make good reasons to miss work, but this isn’t an excuse you should use regularly. Still, if used only once, it can make a good reason for missing work.
Hopefully, they will work with you on a realistic timeline that feels comfortable to you. Now I can concentrate more on my health, especially with the added benefit of Medicare next December. Apologies that this is last minute, I wanted to get to you as much advance notice as I could.
Once you return to work, you must have to mention it once not to look fake. For instance, your boss might demand a note from your doctor or any proof. If you occasionally use this excuse, it will work every time. If you are looking to miss work for a day, remember not to use excuses too often.
And if your company uses the instant messaging service Slack. Or any other type of instant messaging service to communicate. Then send your manager or boss a direct message through that. And if you aren’t sure they’ll be on Slack the next day, email them.