Bears, lizards, flaming hair dryers: The nation’s most outrageous excuses for being late to work

There’s a poll for everything. CareerBuilder — a workplace research group — recently surveyed 2,600 human resource managers around the nation who revealed that a third of their employees typically come in late for one reason or another. Over half of the tardy folks blamed traffic, a third overslept, 28 percent blamed weather, 23 percent were simply tired and 15 percent cited child care problems.

Then there were the other reasons, and it appears that the HR office has heard them all.  Here’s 10 of the most “outrageous” excuses volunteered by some of the managers -  as told to them by tardy employees:

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.

My lizard had to have emergency surgery.

I thought of quitting today, but then decided not to, so I came in late.

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.

I had to finish watching “My Name is Earl.”

Some employers are forgiving. A third say occasional late arrivals are OK, as long as it doesn’t become a pattern; 16 percent say they don’t need employees to be punctual if they can still get their work done.  Meanwhile, 62 percent of workers who arrive late will stay later to make up for it.

And while two thirds of both employers and employees alike admit they believe working the standard 9-to-5 is an “antiquated practice,” the old ways persist. The majority of employers (51 percent) expect employees to be on time every day, and 4 in 10 have fired someone for being late.