Cobras, Clowns and Psychics



​Being late to work can happen for various reasons, some of which are more memorable than others—such as being stuck behind a clown parade, rounding up an errant pet cobra or forgetting your car keys in your child's school backpack.  

SHRM Online collected the following reasons HR professionals and supervisors have heard from employees running late. 

Cobra on the Loose

"We used to have this salesman who worked in our marketing team, and, quite frankly, he was a great employee. His numbers were great, and I couldn't remember for the life of me a single day he was late for work. So, when he finally called me one Tuesday morning informing me he was going to be late, I didn't make much of it. After all, it wasn't like him to come in late."

The salesman reported to work around noon, and when asked about what happened, "he looked at me, clearly a bit distraught, and told me that he had been out all morning looking for his pet cobra. … It had escaped its enclosure and was running loose in the streets. I don't know if they found the snake, and I honestly never followed up. But this was one of the strangest reasons I have ever heard from someone being late at work." 

—Logan Nguyen, co-founder and HR manager of midss.org, an online health and wellness publication based in Sandusky, Ohio 

Clownin' Around; Separation Anxiety

"[One] notable explanation for being late to work came from a worker who was held up in traffic by a circus parade. This employee was also able to give a photo of the occurrence, which he took from his car. Surprisingly, the employee's supervisor was so taken with the explanation that he offered the employee the day off.

"Perhaps one of the most unique excuses for being late to work came from an employee whose pet parrot refused to be left behind. The employee arrived late to work with the pet parrot perched on her shoulder. The employee's boss was so amused by the situation that he allowed the parrot to stay in the office for the day."

—Matt Kerr, founder and CEO of Appliance Geeked in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 

Psychic Advice

"I've heard some doozies over the years as far as excuses for being late to work, but one of the best was I was once told that an employee's psychic warned them that there would be a bad accident on one of the main roads he used to get to work, so he had to take an elongated side route.

"Another odd excuse I was given was that the kids flushed the car keys down the toilet the night before, and the worker had to wait for a locksmith to make new ones. One of the most ridiculous reasons I was given for being late to work is that the staff member forgot their schedule. The only hole in that excuse was that the schedule had been the exact same for the previous several months." 

—Thomas Hawkins, head of HR at Electrician Apprentice HQ in Round Rock, Texas 

Key Problem

"[With children] you're pretty much juggling both your morning routines together, and sometimes things can go missing in a hurry. That's basically what happened with a former employee—a mother of two—who turned up to work three hours late because she accidentally packed her car keys in her child's school backpack. Her kids took their school bus a lot earlier than she left for work, so [she] only realized this much later and spent most of her morning trying to get the keys back. It was a long and tiring ordeal, but she managed to make it to work rather than just calling in sick, which I think was pretty commendable."

—Jess Rodley, director of operations at search engine optimization agency Dialed Labs in Casper, Wyo. 

Let Me Out!

"An employee gave the excuse that they had accidentally locked themselves in the trunk of their car and had to wait for someone to come and rescue them."

—Percy Grunwald, co-founder of London-based hostingdata.com

To the Rescue

"I once had someone show up late for work because a squirrel was sick or dying in their yard. … Apparently, the employee found it and tried to nurse it back to health as they tried to contact an emergency animal service. They were quite late for work."

—Mark Agnew, founder and CEO of eyeglasses.com in Westport, Conn. 

Cow Crossing

"I had this employee before who was very diligent and hardworking. He was never late for work, so I was really surprised when he called me and mentioned that he will be late. When I asked him why, he said a group of cows was crossing the road. I told him to just honk, but he said the last time somebody did that, the cows were threatened, and they started to run toward the cars. Drivers were now scared to honk. I was surprised and did not believe him until he showed me the video he took."

—Steven Mostyn, CHRO of Management.org in Orlando, Fla. 

Bad Dog

"Over the years, I have heard a variety of reasons for why employees have been late to work. Here are a few of the more memorable ones:

• 'My dog ate my car keys.' This employee was able to provide photographic evidence of their dog actually chewing up their car keys.
• One employee explained that they were so used to driving to their previous job that they automatically drove to that location instead of the new workplace.
• One employee had attended a corn maze the previous night and got lost on the way home, which made them late for work in the morning.
• One employee explained that they got stuck in the elevator and had to wait for the fire department to rescue them."
  

—Jon Morgan, CEO of Venture Smarter, headquartered in Cincinnati

Bad Horse

" 'My horse ate my shoes.' [An] employee had a horse as a pet and came in late one day saying her horse had eaten her shoes! Her boss was quite understanding about it and gave her the time off she needed to replace them."

There was no indication if they were saddle shoes.

—Emma Williams, chief research officer at HIGH5 Test in Zurich, Switzerland 

Variety Pack

• " 'I was late because I was watching the cricket match.' 
• 'I was late because I had to stop for a donut.' 
  
• 'I was late because I was stuck behind an old lady.' 
  
• 'I was late because I was helping a lady with her groceries.' 
  
• 'I was late because I was late.' "
  

—Calvin Kim, CEO of Coverland, headquartered in Norwalk, Calif. 

Hmmm, Doubtful

"The worst excuse I ever received for someone being late from work was, 'My father just had a heart attack.' 'That's rough,' I said. 'I thought for sure when we attended his funeral last year that he was finished with that sort of thing.' "

—Barry Maher, speaker, author and consultant at Barry Maher & Associates in Santa Barbara, Calif.