In this article, we are going to discuss 11 perfectly acceptable house emergency excuses. We will also share family emergencies and leave work early excuses.
A list of house emergency excuses:
Here are the most common house emergency excuses that workers use when they need to get out of work earlier:
- Your house is flooded because of a broken pipe;
- You’ve been told it’s a gas leak;
- A fire broke out in the yard/kitchen/bedroom;
- Your roof is leaking and you have to wait for someone to fix it;
- Somebody broke into your house;
- Somebody broke into your car;
- Your pet has disappeared from home;
- Your child/ Partner / Roommate has been injured and you need to take him/her to the hospital;
- Someone broke your front window/door;
- You lost your house keys and have to wait on the locksmith;
- The landlord comes today with a potential buyer.
In short, employees may miss work for an emergency at homes such as broken pipes, power outages, or any other emergency that requires the person to stay home to deal with the problem.
How to ask permission to leave work due to a house emergency?
When asking permission to leave work early, know how to present your request! There are those who leave discreetly, hoping that everyone will believe them on a date. But office managers are always the first to be absent (perhaps because no one can live without them …). It is, therefore, better to ask for permission, with the following forms:
- Word it as a demand and not a fact. The more you make your boss believe that he is the one giving you this favour, the better it will work.
- Specify where you are with your tasks and how your missions will be carried out in your absence.
- Emphasize how relevant your departure is: “I prefer to go to the dentist as long as it’s calm here, to be well present when the rush is“.
- Pick a quiet time, where everyone is relaxed, to talk about it.
- Make an unbeatable excuse.
How should a permit request letter be written?
The letter requesting a leave of absence from work must be brief, do not fall into giving unnecessary arguments or trying to convince anyone, just describe the reason for the corresponding request.
Remember that the structure of the absence letter must be clear and the style must be natural. Stay away from unintelligible or stereotyped phrases and stay friendly.
The structure of a permit request letter is:
Company name and address.
Date and place.
Address.
Body of the message where the reasons for the absence are explained.
Closing.
Signing.
On the other hand, if you want to go one step further, there are management software and leave of absence, as is the case with Sesame, one of the most complete time control tools on the market. Through it, you will be able to manage both the vacations and the absence request in a very simple way.
Family emergency excuses
Within the framework of leave for family reasons, the employee is entitled to a minimum number of days of leave. This number varies depending on the reason given for obtaining the leave:
- Marriage: 4 days for their own marriage and 1 day for the marriage of a child.
- Death: 5 days for the death of a child and 3 days for that of a spouse, father, mother, stepfather or stepmother, brother or sister.
- Disability of a child: 2 days.
- Birth: 3 days are granted to the father or, in the case of the arrival of an adopted child, the same number of days for the parent who does not take adoption leave.
- Sick child under 16: 5 days for a child under one-year-old and 3 days beyond. In the event of a serious illness, the parent may benefit from a right to part-time work for six months (renewable once) if he has at least one year of seniority.
- Family solidarity leaves: when a relative is at the end of their life (father, mother, descendant, brother, sister or a person living in the employee’s home), an employee can benefit from a maximum leave of 3 months.
- Caregiver leave (ex-family support leave) allows you to leave your post for three months to assist any person with whom the employee resides or has close and stable ties. This leave may be renewed if it does not exceed one year over the entire career. Please note that different durations, including less favourable ones, maybe fixed by an agreement or a company or branch agreement.
Leave work early excuses
Here is a list of the best reasons to leave work early and what to say to your boss:
- I have an appointment with the doctor, the typical excuse.
The excuse for the doctor’s appointment is a classic. But how could your boss refuse to let you go for treatment? Especially since he doesn’t want you to infect everyone with this nasty flu at all. Okay, you don’t have the flu, so what? At least you can leave earlier.
- My kid is sick! an excuse for the faint of heart.
Come on, the sick kid’s shot again, sniffling and coughing. Well yes, you have to go get him from school, the poor thing. Especially since no one is available except you. And then he is still small. Your colleagues are almost crying, your boss is moved, you have won.
- Water damage at home.
Classic excuse but one that works again and again! Your neighbour has just called you in an emergency because of water damage in your apartment. It’s time to go home before the flood.
- My car is broken, the garage will close soon.
Well, this excuse works quite well most of the time. Somebody dropped you off at work this morning, but you have to pick up your car from the garage. Bad luck, it will close in a little while. So you must leave now! Not bad isn’t it?
- An urgent bill to settle, always the right excuse
You have an electricity, water and gas bill pending payment. This is the last day before sanction! You absolutely must send your checks to the Post Office before it closes and you are cut off. Come on, here we go. A slightly crude excuse but it goes!
What not to do when you are taking time off work
Before using any of the above excuses for being absent from work, we recommend that you take into account some details to avoid making mistakes:
- Don’t kill anyone, these kinds of lies are very big and hard to maintain.
- Remember the lies you tell because otherwise, they may come looking for you.
- Don’t explain yourself too much, too many explanations could make it seem like you are looking for an excuse because it is a lie.
- Don’t be too brief, but a 4-word message is also suspect.
- Of course, don’t take time to go to the beach or for a walk. The next day, your tropical tan could give you away.
- If you have “stomach pains,” don’t have a burger at the office the next day.
- If it’s your child or your partner who gets sick, be sure to go on a great family outing on the weekends and talk about it at the office.
- Apologize the next day if someone asks you questions, but, again, be careful not to give too much explanation.
Conclusions
It is okay to take time off from work sometimes, and we hope that the above reasons to not go to work will serve their purpose. However, our suggestion is not to overdo it, as nobody needs an employee that they can’t rely upon on someone who goes missing from time to time.
Also, remember that calling in to report that you are sick is the best reason to not go to work. Most employers prefer that sick staff stay home so they don’t infect others, but if you miss working for several days due to illness or injury, you may need a doctor’s statement.
If you have any questions or comments on the content, please let us know!
FAQ on House emergency excuses
What’s the best excuse to miss work?
Among the best excuses to miss work are:
- You have a contagious illness;
- Food poisoning;
- Family emergency;
- Medical appointments;
- Vehicle or transport issues;
- Death in the family;
- Your pet is lost or you need to take it to the vet.
How do you call in sick to work professionally?
If you have to call in sick to work, to do it professionally keep it as brief as possible and call as soon as you can. Let your team know that you will be missing work and make arrangements who can take over your workload. Mention the period you will be missing and when are you planning on coming back.
What is the best excuse to call in sick?
The best excuses to call in sick are:
- You have the flu or other contagious illness.
- You hurt your back, ankle or knee.
- You have been hospitalized.
- The emergency doctor or dentist’s appointment.
- You are depressed, stressed or anxious.
How do I take leave for personal reasons?
To take leave for personal reasons you have to ring your employer or talk with HR and let them know how much time you need and when you plan to return to work. Some employers offer a certain number of days for personal leave per year. Avail of those if included in the contract!
What are the best reasons to call in sick?
Here is a list of the best reasons to call in sick:
- You have a contagious illness (COVID-19, CRE, Ebola, Enterovirus D68, or the flu).
- Because of an injury or illness that negatively impacts productivity (you hurt your back, twisted your ankle or broke an arm).
- You have a medical appointment (either a doctor’s appointment or medical investigations appointment).
- You have a diagnosed medical condition (Alzheimer’s Disease, arthritis, asthma, cancer, COPD, diabetes, etc.).
- You have been hospitalized (either because of an emergency or a planned procedure).
- Pregnancy or delivery (this is a medical emergency).
- You are taking a mental health day (which is also a personal reason and you do not have to disclose your diagnosis to HR if you don’t want to).
References
Indeed.com
Salesforce.com
Forbes.com
