Employees Arriving Late More Often, with More Excuses

Arriving late at work is bound to happen to everyone at some point. It generally isn’t a concern for your boss so long as it’s not a frequent occurrence or your excuse is believable. A recently study published by CareerBuilder at the company’s website showed that employees are not afraid to stroll in a little late on a regular basis, nor are they short with colorful reasons as to why they’re tardy.

According to the report, 16 percent of employees said that they’re late to work once a week or more, while 27 percent come in late at least monthly. Flexible work schedules and corresponding start times have made many employers more lenient, but repeatedly coming in late to work can still have dire consequences. Over a third of the employers surveyed stated that they have fire a worker for tardiness.

“Punctuality, or lack thereof, can impact how your commitment, reliability and performance are perceived by your employer,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources at CareerBuilder. “One of the best ways to make sure you get to work on time is to get organized and plan ahead. Lay out whatever you’ll need for the workday the night before, plan to be at the office early, account for expected commute delays and eliminate distractions in your morning routine.”

The cause most often cited in the survey for lateness was traffic, at 31 percent. Other excuses included lack of sleep (18%), bad weather (11%) and getting children to school or daycare (8%). Employers likewise blamed tardiness on such things as public transportation delays, pets, spouses, watching television and surfing the Internet.

Hiring managers also provided examples of some of the more preposterous excuses for being late. One employee said that the cat had the hiccups, while another believed that she had won the lottery, though, as it happened, she had not. The Today Show proved distracting for one worker, and an irate roommate cutting the cord to a phone charger – thereby preventing the phone from charging and its alarm going off – kept another employee from making it to work on time. Employees have also blamed the commute itself (it should count towards work hours), a fox (it stole the car keys), a personal call from the state governor (a legitimate excuse), and early hours (having no intention of arriving before 9:00 am, despite an 8:00 am start time). One worker’s excuse was having a leg stuck between the subway car and the platform, an excuse that was completely true, and another employee was late due to a job interview… with another firm.

The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder between November 9 and December 5, 2011. A total of 7,780 full-time U.S. employees (not self-employed or government) and 3,023 hiring managers and HR professionals from various industries and company sizes participated in the survey.