I'M LATE!

Have you ever been late to work and felt the need to embellish the truth a bit so the boss wouldn't know you just hit the snooze alarm one too many times? You're not alone. In a survey of more than 2,500 hiring and human resource managers and more than 3,200 workers across industries, CareerBuilder.com and The Harris Poll determined that 13 percent of U.S. workers arrive late to work at least once a week and 24 percent arrive late at least once a month.

The top 10 most outrageous excuses for being late to work:

1. I thought of quitting today, but then decided not to, so I came in late.
2. My hair caught on fire from my blow dryer.
3. I was detained by Homeland Security.
4. I had to chase my cows back into the field.
5. A black bear entered my carport and decided to take a nap on the hood of my car.
6. My lizard had to have emergency surgery in the morning and died during surgery. I had to mourn while deciding whether to have the lizard disposed of by the vet or bring the lizard corpse with me to work.
7. There was fresh powder on the hill. I had to go skiing.
8. All of my clothes were stolen.
9. I was confused by the time change and unsure if it was "spring forward" or "fall back."
10. A Vaseline truck overturned on the highway and cars were slipping left and right.

So what are the real reasons employees are late?

• Traffic: 53 percent
• Oversleeping: 33 percent
• Bad weather: 28 percent
• Lack of sleep: 23 percent
• Getting kids ready for school or day care: 15 percent

What do managers think of all this tardiness? Excuses might not be necessary as organizations move toward more flexible schedules. 67 percent of employers and 66 percent of employees believe the concept of "working 9 to 5" is an antiquated practice, but more than half of employers (51 percent) expect employees to be on time every day, and 4 in 10 (41 percent) have fired someone for being late.