Being punctual for work is a task easier said than done.

Sometimes, your staff have to wade through Vaseline-covered roads, attend their lizard’s funeral or fight off a black bear.

Believe it or not, these were actually some of the excuses made by professionals to employers in 2015 when asked the reason for their tardiness.

This was according to a report by CareerBuilder, which surveyed more than 2,500 hiring and human resource managers.

When asked how often they come in late to work, one in four workers (25%) admitted they do it at least once a month, and 13% said it’s a weekly occurrence for them.

Here are some of the most outrageous excuses employees have given their bosses for being late:

• I thought of quitting today, but then decided not to, so I came in late.
• My hair caught on fire from my blow dryer.
• I was detained by Homeland Security.
• I had to chase my cows back into the field.
• A black bear entered my carport and decided to take a nap on the hood of my car.
• My lizard had to have emergency surgery in the morning and died during surgery. I had to mourn while deciding whether to have the lizard disposed of by the vet or bring the lizard corpse with me to work.
• There was fresh powder on the hill. I had to go skiing.
• There was a store grand opening and I wanted to get the opening day sales.
• I had to finish watching “My Name is Earl.”
• All of my clothes were stolen.
• I was confused by the time change and unsure if it was “spring forward” or “fall back.”
• A Vaseline truck overturned on the highway and cars were slipping left and right.

“Excuses might not be necessary as organisations move toward more flexible schedules,” the report observed.

ALSO READ: When those outrageous MC excuses are actually true

In fact, approximately 67% of bosses and 66% of employees in the report believed the concept of “working 9 to 5” is an antiquated practice.

Despite this, 51% of bosses stated expect employees to be on time every day, and 41%have fired someone for being late.

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