There is always a day(s) out of the year that you may want to miss work for whatever reason. It happens even to the best of us who love our jobs, but it is an unavoidable situation about living a typical adult life. However, how can you ensure you get away with taking a day off without compromising your work ethic? Here are the 15 best family emergency excuses to miss work without repercussions.
Bruno Mars must have instantly known that “The lazy song” was a hit because every adult can relate to the lyrics. Every adult with a job can relate to wanting that one day off work to be lazy around the house and do nothing. Getting a day off without a valid justification for missing work during a regular workday is challenging.
Labor laws require employers to accord their employees a reasonable amount of days off their workstations, and the terms and conditions for each employer may differ depending on where you work and contract. However, what do you do when you want that day off and do not have a valid justification for skipping work? Here are the 15 best family emergency excuses to miss work.
1. Sick Child
One of the top reasons people work their asses off is to provide a better future for their children, thus why a child’s health is a top priority to parents. You can request some time off work to take your child to see a doctor, but ensure to point out to your employer that there is no one you trust to delegate the task.
2. Sick Spouse
Labor laws recognize the importance of a spouse for an employee because they rank high in the next of kin protocol. Asking for some time off to attend to a sick spouse is a legitimate reason to persuade your employer to give you time off your workstation.
3. Sick Close Family Member
Close family members can opt to stay with you, especially if they are attending a medical procedure/appointment close to your home. A good example is telling your boss you require time off to cater to the post-surgery care of a close family member like a parent or sibling living with you.
4. Child School Emergency
Kids attract the attention of a school teacher, principal, counselor, or nurse if they are experiencing challenges in school that can interfere with their learning. It is common practice for school representatives to contact parents and request a meeting to address the challenges. You can request an impromptu time off while at work to attend to such school emergencies affecting your child.
5. Funerals
Funerals are the only events that accord us the last chance to bid farewell to a loved one. You can legitimately request a day off from work to attend a funeral of a close family member, friend, or colleague from work.
6. Home Emergencies
Home emergencies like gas leaks, natural disasters, fire hazards, structural issues, electrical issues, or faulty plumbing could warrant you to request legitimate time off work. Failure to attend to such home emergencies could lead to you and your family losing shelter, a basic human need.
7. Court Attendance
Court attendances are mandatory, and failure to attend a court appointment could result in legal consequences, including possible jail time. You can get a day off from your employer if you have pending family court appointments like divorce, succession, or adoption that require you to attend in person.
8. Major Life Event/Milestone
You can request a day off from work to attend live events such as births, graduations, marriages, or milestone celebrations of a close family member or friend. Such life events happen once in a blue moon, and we can support our loved ones during such rare moments by being present.
9. Doctor Appointments
Doctor appointments affecting your family could be a legitimate reason to get time off from work. You could get time off for doctor appointments like couples counseling/therapy or family planning.
10. Mental Challenges
Mental health is now a critical medical condition, and taking a day off work to care for your mental health and that of close family members is a priority. Employers are now empathetic to mental health issues and readily offer days off to help employees to find the balance between home and work life.
11. Transportation Challenges
You can readily get time off work from your employer if you are experiencing transportation issues like car mechanical issues that prevent you and close family members from getting to work on time or school. You can take a day off to get hold of a mechanic to fix your car problems.
12. COVID-19
COVID-19 is now a legitimate reason to get time off from work ever since the outbreak in 2019. You can use the time off to quarantine, recover, and prevent the spread of the highly infectious disease.
13. Family Interventions
Employers are also empathetic to critical family occasions like an intervention of a family member deep in drug addiction. Employers offer employees time off for such interventions to be present, support, and help a close family member through dark times.
14. Relocating Residence
You can request a day off to facilitate you and your family to relocate from one residence to another. Your employer may even be glad if you move closer to your workplace, thus reducing your commute timeline.
15. Traveling
Lastly, you can request some time off if you are traveling with a family member for an out-of-state event, like taking your kid to attend a nationwide tournament. Parents are the best traveling companions for kids in such scenarios because they can’t delegate parental consent to a third party and are present to offer motivational support.
Conclusion
It is easy to get time off if you are genuinely experiencing any of the above situations because all you need to do is stick to the truth while offering detailed explanations. However, if you are scamming your employer using the above reasons, it is best to think your plan through before giving details. Offer as few details as possible when lying, and keep track of how frequently you use the excuse to avoid being caught in a lie and jeopardizing your work ethic.
