Like a surgeon wielding a scalpel, discretion must be exercised to avoid catastrophic damage. Personal and professional relationships can be impacted by your decision to play hooky. Missing work is something touchy, especially when it comes to your employer.

Have a candid talk with your boss explaining your state of mind, and explore possible solutions like temporary, flexible scheduling or work-from-home options. However, some employers may require you to present a doctor’s note as evidence of your absence. It is crucial to comply with such requirements to avoid any misunderstandings.

Your Car Broke Down

Back in 2014, the American Society for Microbiology found that viruses can affect up to 60 percent of workers just hours after contaminating a single doorknob or tabletop. Remember, these excuses are valid and common reasons why employees might have to miss work on short notice. By communicating these issues professionally to your employer, you can maintain your work reputation even during unexpected absences.

Plus, not taking the time off when you need it can reduce your job performance, keep you sick longer, and lead to burnout. Finally, stay in touch with your company as much as possible. If you find out you need more time off than you originally thought, tell them immediately. This will make it clear to your team that you take your job seriously. If your WiFi problems are being caused by severe weather conditions, though, you may not want to leave your house to access the internet.

This offers the opportunity to make excuses like ‘’my computer suddenly broke down’’. You can also customize this excuse around any technology malfunction specific to the software you use at work to make it more believable. We turned to our list of contributors to learn about their tried-and-true best excuses for missing work. After sifting through many responses, we organized 22 into the categories below. But you may find yourself needing to take time away from work to address it on an emergency basis. A “family emergency” may be nothing more than a new parent’s paranoia over an infant’s runny nose.

1. In an ideal world, a manager will accept “I can’t come in to work today” without question (even if it’s on short notice).
2. Obviously, avoiding the spread of illness sits right up there at the top of the list, but there are lots of other good reasons to call out of work.
3. I wanted to call you first and let you know that I won’t be in today.
4. If someone in your family is sick (like a child or an aging parent), and you need to take care of them,  that’s a totally reasonable reason to call out of work for the day.
5. Simply stating, “Today, I’m not feeling my best mentally and need to take a day to regroup.
6. It depends on how far you want to take it, though in most cases, your pet being lost should suffice just fine.

Importantly, if you do need to attend work with conjunctivitis, take great care to regularly wash your hands and avoid close contact with others. Many schools do not let children return to school until 24 hours after the child has started antibiotic eye drops for their pink eye. If you have a rash accompanied by a fever or your medical provider has diagnosed your rash as contagious, you should stay home. A nagging or severe headache can keep you from effectively doing your job and it can be a good reason to call in sick.

How to request stress leave from work

What you deem an emergency may not be defined the same way by your boss. Generally speaking, a family emergency is an unexpected event that occurs, affecting the health or safety of your family. It could be a sudden illness, injury from an accident, or another devastating event. In some circumstances, you could be eligible for extended leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Under the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act, employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees with a disability. Although federal law does not yet consider coronavirus as a disability, its highly contagious and unknown nature requires flexibility and understanding from the nation’s employers.

1. Whether you’re working in person or remotely there are, in general, legitimate reasons to call out of work — as well as those that are less so.
2. Just try to give your employer as much notice as possible and discuss how you can make up for the time lost.
3. Give as much notice as you can, then explain the situation transparently.
4. Too many points can result in disciplinary action or suspension without pay.

A phone call also passes your reasons along in the case of short notice, for example, an emergency, being involved in a car accident, or if you have a sick child. Nobody’s life is perfect and even the best and most dedicated employees have to miss a day of work. However, many feel obligated to go, even when their health or personal life needs at least 24 hours of attention.

What makes an excuse good?

Even after the pandemic, employees continue “pushing through” illness, making efforts to arrive at the office no matter their circumstance or how they’re feeling. But just because we aren’t always encouraged to take time off reasons to call out of work doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of valid reasons for doing so. Obviously, avoiding the spread of illness sits right up there at the top of the list, but there are lots of other good reasons to call out of work. Even the occasional mental health day constitutes a totally legitimate excuse to stay home and out of the office.

It encompasses illness, the need for a “mental health day,” a personal day needed to accomplish time-pressured chores or errands, and other reasons for missing work. Call your employer and ask to take the day off since you’re not feeling well or need to attend to a personal health issue. In this case, you’re being truthful without oversharing the information. Mental health is part of your overall health, and you’re allowed sick days.

Someone Else Is Sick

I will keep you informed of any changes in my situation and the expected date of my return to work. Please let me know if there are any specific procedures or paperwork required for requesting this emergency leave. I will be more than willing to comply with the company’s policies and procedures in this regard.

But her team needs her to give the finishing touches to the MySQL server optimizations. She finally completed it today and applied for a day off next Monday. Religious customs are an exception where the managers do not intervene or interfere too much, as long as you deliver the work on time. Informing prior to the festival or event is the best way to go, since keeping your management on the same page as yours is just as crucial. Use simple, to-the-point, clear explanations for your leave, and have a guilt-free day-off.

Calling in sick for mental health reasons is perfectly valid. A sick day can give you time to practice self-care, allowing you to return to your day-to-day life feeling calmer and refreshed. Not every company allows for mental health days, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a valid reason to call out of work. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, mentally exhausted, or constantly anxious, it’s time to find a way to step back.

Doctor’s appointments are a good excuse to miss work for a few hours (or an entire day depending on the situation). Last-minute important deliveries that require a signature can be a valid excuse for calling off work as well. Whether they run away or accidentally wander outside, locating them can take an entire day.