The dog ate my car keys… again

Thirty percent of hiring managers have sacked employees for turning up late, and the reasons late arrivers give are not washing with hard-pressed employers.

Thirty percent of hiring managers have sacked employees for turning up late, and the reasons late arrivers give are not washing with hard-pressed employers.

One-in-ten workers admits to being late at least once a month, and 14 per cent are late once a week or more. The national survey was conducted online in January 2014 and included a representative sample of 1,000 employees across industries and company sizes. That's according to a new CareerBuilder.co.uk study. “Employers understand that from time to time circumstances will arise that are out of a worker’s control and unfortunately cause them to arrive at work late,” says Scott Helmes, Managing Director of CareerBuilder UK. “It escalates into a problem when the behaviour becomes repetitive, causing employers to take disciplinary action. Three in ten hiring managers reported that they had to fire someone for being late.”

Reasons for being late range from factors in a worker’s control to those that are not. When asked what primarily makes you late to work workers said: Traffic – 41 percent; Lack of Sleep – 25 percent; Public Transportation – 22 percent; Weather – 13 percent; Getting Children to School – seven percent; Wardrobe Issues – five percent; Internet Use – three percent; Pets – three percent. 

Read more

Latest News

Read More

What does “a different kind of leader” really mean?

30 June 2025

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

University of Bath – Human ResourcesSalary: £24,344 to £25,733 pro rata per annum, Grade 4

University of Strathclyde – Professional Services – Human Resources DirectorateSalary: £59,139 to £66,537

University of Strathclyde – Professional Services (Continuous Improvement, Estates, Finance, HR) – Human Resources DirectorateSalary: £37,174 to £45,413

You will lead HR Business Partnering, OD, and Learning & Development, and also oversee HR related managed services. You may already be an HR Director

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE