You shouldn't wait to give an excuse after the fact, if it can be helped. Always give your excuse ahead of time. This relieves a lot of pressure and shows that you you are proactive. Employers appreciate that quality in an employee. The better excuse that you can give, the better it is also. This shows that you are creative and inventive. Nothing lowers your esteem in the eyes of your boss like giving an old, shop-worn excuse. Having said all of this, we offer no guarantee that any of the following excuses will work on your boss, so don't come around complaining if you get fired for using one of these excuses as all we'll be able to give you is a good excuse as to why it didn't work.
- Find an actual religious holiday and tell your boss you have recently converted to that religion and need that day off since it is one of your religious high holy days. There are many different religions in the world and, if you do a little research, you are apt to be able to find one that has a high holy day on the day that you want to take off. It is best to really do your research and find a real holy day for some religion as you boss is liable to check up on your story. It is also good to know a bit about the religion as your boss might say something like; "Oh, I didn't know you were a practitioner of that religion. Tell me about it."
- Tell your boss that a particular relative has just passed on and you need to fly out and attend the funeral. Again it's good to put some thought into this and fill out the details ahead of time, such as, just who it is that has passed on, what relation they were to you and what they passed away from. You may want to write this down in case you ever want to use this excuse again or if your boss unexpectedly asks about the funeral at a later time.
- Say that your mother or some other very close relative has taken quite ill and is not expected to make it through the next day. It is better if this person lives out of state so that they don't pop into the office one day unexpectedly. Also make sure that they don't call you at the office.
- Tell your boss that one of your children is very ill and needs to be taken to the doctor. Is best if you actually have children and can show your boss a picture.
- Tell your boss that one of your kids is in a school play and you absolutely need to be there. Tell him your kid is under psychiatric care and the doctor has said that the kid will grow up to be a terrorist if he thinks he's not getting enough attention from you.
- Tell your boss that your beloved dog/cat/mouse/boa constrictor has been suffering with leukemia and is now suffering so much that it needs to be put down. Say that you feel like you need to be there for it in the end.
- Say that you need to attend an emergency parent teacher conference because they found trace elements of plutonium in your child's lunch box and they want to know if he intended to build a weapon of mass destruction and use it on his third grade class.
- Tell your boss you need to give a bone marrow transplant to your best friend who once saved your life.
- Say that a sewer pipe broke and your basement is getting flooded. Say that you are frantically trying to save your furniture and other priceless memorabilia from your basement.
- Say that someone broke into your home last night and your spouse or other family member is hysterical about it and can't be left alone.
