Are they really sick or just playing hooky?

When employees are overworked, underpaid and stressed out, they tend to take more sick days. But it’s up for debate how many of these sick days are actually warranted.

And a new survey from CareerBuilder finds that the number of workers taking phony sick days is on the rise. Twenty-nine percent of employees admitted to calling in sick when they were “perfectly healthy.”

The study also found that 27% of employers believed absenteeism was growing.

And a number of managers have reacted harshly when they found out about staffers playing hooky. In fact, 16% of managers said they have fired somebody for missing a day of work without a valid excuse, according CareerBuilder.

The study also listed some of the more creative excuses people came up with for missing work, including:

• My finger was stuck in a bowling ball
• A cow broke into my house, so I need to wait til the insurance man gets here, and
• I can’t come in to work because my girlfriend threw a Sit ‘n’ Spin through my living room window.

Readers, what is the most ridiculous excuse for missing work you’ve ever heard? Share it with us in the Comments Section.