Most working professionals will have had to call in sick at some point in their career. Today is the first Monday in February, which is also known as ‘National Sickie Day.’ This is when most people will phone in sick to work, using a variety of different excuses to take the day off.

While many people often get away with it, there are some excuses that are just too unbelievable to be true. We collected our favourite worst excuses for calling in sick from across Cordant People!

Mandy, Cordant People Maldon

“I’ve been working for over 30 years and I’ve heard it all! Here’s one of the best messages I’ve received: ‘I went fishing on Sunday and my mate left me there with no car or phone and it has taken me two days to walk home.’”

Helen, Cordant Engineering

“We had a candidate who called to say they couldn’t make it in because of bad snow. What she didn’t know was that I lived two streets down from her, and there was definitely no snow!

Hannah, Cordant People Barnstaple

“The worst ever excuse I had was as follows: ‘I have a bit of a situation at home. I need to source a morning-after pill for my dog.’ This was from a temp, who is actually now a client! Happy to say the crisis was averted.”

Martyn, Cordant Learning & Development

“Someone once rang in sick for a job interview because ‘an alien’ had arrived the night before and stolen their shoes…”

Ria, Cordant People Contact Centre

“The strangest I heard was: ‘I can’t come to work today because I’m in the middle of doing a smoking cessation.‘” 

Emma, Cordant People Marketing

“One excuse I had was that he couldn’t come in because he thought his dog was going to be sick. He then went off for 16 days!”

Excuses for calling in sick can be elaborate and over the top, however, this is a trend we are seeing where the issues around how a person is feeling are being masked with a physical problem.

In January, we had ‘Blue Monday’ and today we have ‘National Sickie Day.’ Unfortunately, these types of days are not a new phenomenon. There is a lot of evidence that suggest excessive sick days and mental health issues are related. 

Companies and employers need to start doing more to combat what is causing their employees stress. They need to ask ‘Are our staff happy, and if not, what can we do to make them happier?’ If you invest in employee wellbeing, you’ll see retention and attendance levels rise throughout your company.

What are the craziest excuses you’ve heard for someone calling in sick? We want to know! Get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.