Bad weather and 10 other late-to-work excuses

Trying to get the kids to school or daycare is a roadblock for 12% of employees, while public transportation and wardrobe issues get in the way of being on time for 7% and 6% of workers, respectively.

Read: Top 12 excuses workers have used for being late

But for some employees, the reasons are far less conventional. When asked about the most outrageous excuses they’ve been given, employers shared the following:

1. I knocked myself out in the shower.
2. I was drunk and forgot which Waffle House I parked my car next to.
3. I discovered my spouse was having an affair, so I followed him this morning to find out who he was having an affair with.
4. Someone robbed the gas station I was at, and I didn’t have enough gas to get to another station.
5. I had to wait for the judge to set my bail.
6. There was a stranger sleeping in my car.
7. A deer herd that was moving through town made me late.
8. I’m not late. I was thinking about work on the way in.
9. I dreamed that I got fired.
10. I went out to my car to drive to work, and the trunk had been stolen out of it. (In this case, the employee had the photo to prove it.)

Read: Majority of employers have caught resumé lies

The survey also finds 41% of U.S. employers have fired an employee for tardiness.

But 33% of employers say they have no problem with the occasional late arrival, as long as it doesn’t become a pattern.

Read: Top 10 strange reasons for calling in sick

And 16% say they don’t need employees to be punctual if they can still get their work done. (Indeed, 59% of workers who arrive late also stay later.)

The survey polled more than 2,100 hiring and HR managers and more than 3,000 workers.

Also read:

• Top 10 productivity killers at work
• A third of U.S. workers use fake sick days