Every now and then, there are good chances that employees come to work late. The problem is, some people make tardiness more of a habit than others. The latest survey conducted by CareerBuilder revealed that 1 in 4 workers (25 percent) admitted that they come late to work at least once in a month – down from 29 percent last year. Meanwhile, 1 in 10 office staff (12 percent) said that deliberately showing up at work late is a weekly occurrence for them.

Involving more than 1,000 hiring and human resource managers and more than 800 workers in the private sector across industries, the survey found that 38 percent of respondents aged 18-34 are coming late at least once a month. The figure drops slightly among those aged 35-44 with 36 percent, while workers aged 45 and older showed the least level of tardiness as only 14 percent said so.

When it comes to the reasons of being late, most of us would go with common explanations, such as the alarm did not go off, the car failed to start, or the train was late due to bad weather. However, some people have more unusual excuses for coming behind time. The survey asked managers about the most bizarre excuses employees have given them for being late, and here are among the strangest answers:

• It’s too cold to work.
• I had morning sickness (it was a man).
• My coffee was too hot and I couldn’t leave until it cooled off.
• An astrologer warned me of a car accident on a major highway, so I took all backroads, making me an hour late.
• My dog ate my work schedule.
• I was here, but I fell asleep in the parking lot.
• My fake eyelashes were stuck together.
• Although it has been five years, I forgot I did not work at my former employer’s location and drove there on accident.

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Besides those outrageous reasons, in general the usual suspects to blame when employees come late include traffic (51 percent), oversleeping (31 percent), bad weather (28 percent), too tired to get out of bed (23 percent) as well as forgetting something (13 percent).

While you might think that it is okay to be running a few minutes behind, the study found that the majority of employers (60 percent) said they expect employees to be on time every day. More than 2 in 5 (43 percent) even fired someone for coming late in regular basis – compared to 41 percent last year.

On the other hand, as an effort to stay on employers’ good sides, 65 percent of workers who arrive late said that they will stay later at work to make up for their unpunctuality. The figure was slightly down from 69 percent last year. Additionally, there is a growing trend that workers want to move past 9-5 norm. Some 63 percent respondents said they believe working 9 to 5 is an antiquated practice, and 88 percent think start and end times should be flexible.

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