by Nayab Naseer

Created on: February 04, 2009

There will always be days when you would want to take leave from your daily grind. However, the excuse you give for missing work would depend on your company's leave policy.

Most company's have a leave policy that provides for the different types of leaves and the number of leave an employee can take in a year. The most common type of leaves is sick leaves, annual leaves, maternity and paternity leaves and casual leaves.

It is always advisable to take sick leaves only when you are genuinely sick. If you take too many sick leaves, your boss could get suspicious and ask for proofs like doctor's prescriptions or even a medical fitness certificate, which could put you in deep trouble. Minor illness and headaches do not need prescriptions or visits to the doctor, but too many headaches in a limited period can give the game away. Similarly, it is obviously not possible to fake maternity and paternity leaves unless you are a master of deception.

It is again better to stick to the company policy regarding paid vacations and annual leaves, which would be once a year or twice a year. Over-indulging in vacations can lead to the impression that you are not serious about your job.

It is for casual leaves, or missing work on occasional days when one is not sick that the realm of excuses comes into play.

A private survey for academic research, administered on Human Resource Managers in 2007 has found the following reasons most commonly cited for missing work:

1.Illness of spouse, parents or children

2.Headache of back-pain

3.Weddings and funerals in the family or friends-circle

4.Children's examination

5.Accidents or mishaps while on way to work

However, the reasons can vary and depends on one's circumstances and imaginations. Whatever the reason, there are some fundamental rules to follow while making up excuses

1. The first principle is to stick to the truth as far as possible. While one might get away by stretching the truth to some extent, it is easy to catch white lies, and bosses usually do that. For instance, it is very easy to verify whether an accident took place on your way to work as you claim.

2. The second principle is to avoid contradictions. For instance, taking a leave citing that the day is your grandmother's death anniversary, and then taking another leave two weeks later stating this same grandmother is ill is an obvious contradiction. Similarly, it is not a good idea to take a leave for your child's examination when your child is only two years old.

3. The excuse should

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>