14 Good Excuses to Miss Work on Short Notice

If you’re wondering how to skip work and not get in trouble, here are not five, not ten, but 14 good excuses to miss work on short notice!

Let’s face it, we all need some rest here and then for various (justifiable) reasons. Sometimes it’s Monday again, and even though you’ve had a nice weekend off, you don’t really feel like going back to work and looking at all those miserable Monday faces. Plus, it would give you so much pleasure if you were resting while your colleagues are working. Perhaps it’s just raining heavily, and you see no legitimate reason why you should be leaving the warmth and coziness of your bed (or someone’s hug, perhaps). There could be relative visiting good excuses to miss work the next day (you wish to show him/her around). Last but not the least, your mate’s party was so wild last night you’re experiencing your worst hangover ever (and you thought that would never happen again). On the other hand, you might be a trustful, hardworking employee who has never called in sick or lied to your employer. Still, that very same employer isn’t paying you enough, so you’ve been sending your CVs and looking for opportunities elsewhere. Don’t worry; we’ve also got some very good excuses to miss work for an interview.

To construct this list of good excuses to miss work in last minute, we did some serious digging by checking lots and lots of ideas by BBC (yes, even they recognize the value of a day off), GrindTV, The Balance, LoveToKnow, Blogworks, etc. One would think finding good enough excuses to miss work would be rather simple, but it turned out the other way if the excuses were to meet our criteria. First of all, we wanted your lie to be so good it can’t be traced. Therefore, we ignored suggestions such as “my relative/grandmother has just died”.”Those are some serious matters not to be joked about. Sooner or later, you would probably blurt out your grandparents are alive and well. Or you would have to pretend you’re sad the next day. Our list offers you a list of little white lies that are incredibly easy to sustain. The next criteria was the immediateness of it working. When we say short notice, we mean you can finish your job (basically, not getting to it) in one phone call. Therefore, you should read this list just in case you are ready should an opportunity arise to seize the day properly.

There will be plenty of good excuses to miss work due to you being sick. We took great care that the illnesses you’re mentioning are untraceable or not requiring a doctor’s notice. Some of them are perfect for couples, and others for families. If you’re a family man, here are some real good family emergency excuses to get out of work last minute. However, most of these below are just right for anyone!

If you’re really going pro, check out our 11 Good Excuses to Miss Work in Advance and 16 Good Believable Excuses for Missing Work.

The examples of perfectly good excuses are listed in no particular order since they are all equally believable. May it be that you’re reading this on a murky Monday morning, have a quick look at our 14 good excuses to miss work on short notice and take a day off! It’s just one boss phone call away!

14. Pregnancy announcement

This one is just perfect for couples! Just make sure you don’t hesitate while you’re saying the happy news to your boss. The story goes like this: your girlfriend has just found out she’s pregnant this morning, and she needs some support. Isn’t that lovely!

The good sides of this lie are that you can plan it ahead if you have to take the day off for an interview or something. The bad side would be you would have to face a couple of congratulations the next day, so how about saying it was a false alarm.

13. Car accident

We’re pretty sure all managers know the story about the belt inside out, so don’t mention it in any way possible. There are plenty of variations on the topic, but this is what we suggest as the most reliable one: you call your boss and invent there was an accident on your way to work. It should be small enough not to appear in the news. Option one: you have to drive your car to the mechanic (who’s a friend of yours, and you didn’t get the receipt). Option two: you took the injured man/woman to the hospital.

12. Toothache

Ouch! You’ve just woken up with a really painful toothache! Try to sound tense and a little scared while you’re talking to the boss.

11. Diarrhea

Good old diarrhea is inevitable in the lists of good excuses to miss work on short notice. Seriously, no one is going to argue with you about how serious the state is or to ask for details. This is your joker, so use it wisely.

10. Migraine

Try to act it out properly. In order to perfectly fake a severe headache, don’t get into too many details. Make one short phone call as if you couldn’t bear to talk.

9. Allergic reaction

This is one of the good excuses to miss work at night on our list of on our list of good excuses to miss work on short notice . Just say that you had something at lunch or dinner. Try to pick food which isn’t something you eat every day, like shrimps for example. On the other hand, if you’re really allergic to something such as nuts, you could always say the restaurant served you a cake with traces of nuts in it.

8. Female problems

We are continuing our list of good excuses to miss work on short notice with one of our favorite ones. Which boss loves hearing about menstrual cramps? None of them. Female managers will usually show sympathy, while male bosses will just try to end the unpleasant conversation as soon as possible.

7. Grandma call

If your grandma is alive and well, you could say a little lie about her or some other elderly member of your family. Just say that your grandma/great-uncle/old aunt that never got married called you this morning and sounded rather incoherently. Naturally, you feel worried, and you feel like going to check up on her/him. It makes you look like a perfect caring grandchild. A true philanthropist, might we add.

6. Leaky pipes

Unfortunately, it happens all the time, and you won’t be the first or the last who pulled this one off. No one can trace it unless your boss is thy lovely neighbor.

5. Babysitter problem

Now let’s go back to family excuses. The easiest way would be to call your boss and say your babysitter has suddenly canceled in the last minute. See the suggestions above and below for the list of reasons. Maybe she’s just found out she’s expecting!

4. Picking up your kid from school

Hmm, now why would you do that? Maybe he or she got ill and vomited in the middle of the classroom? If you think it’s too transparent, how about this: say you have to pick up your child because he/she said the F-word in the middle of English class (be specific! it makes the lie/excuse more believable). And now, let’s see the top three good excuses to miss work on short notice.

3. Mental anguish

Now here is one of the good excuses to miss work for a week, only if you have the guts to do it. As much as employers hate listening about diarrhea or periods, what they loathe even more is discussing mental issues and feelings of anxiety. You should say you’ve been experiencing a lot of mental anguish about an upcoming life event (getting married, last kid going to college, etc.). You have trouble focusing on the figures at work, and you could use some time off to work things out. It works like a charm.

2. Personal reasons

Now, this one on our list of good excuses to miss work on short notice is one of the best. Why? Well, because you don’t have to invent anything! No details! True story. The scenario goes like this: you say you’re afraid you can’t come to work today. When the boss asks you why simply and politely say you can’t talk about it: Something came up. Personal reasons. I’m sorry, I cant talk about it…” Don’t forget to send your apologies to whoever was counting on you that day.

1. Food poisoning

And the ultimate excuse in 14 good excuses to miss work on short notice and take a day off – food poisoning! We say “ultimate” because this one is most widely used and recommended, and why wouldn’t it be? No one can trace it – you usually recover in a day or two. Hmmm, two days… Therefore, you can have a longer holiday. Secondly, it’s extremely short notice, and it can actually be planned in advance. Just make sure you sound really ill over the phone (as if you were getting ready to throw up one more time), and you’re done! Word of advice, though. In order for all these precious schemes to work, try not to use social networks too much. Sometimes a story on Instagram can cost you dearly. With that in mind, we leave you to plan your free time! Enjoy!