Good and Bad Excuses to Leave Work Early (2024)

Do you need a good excuse for leaving work early? There are many reasons why you may need to leave work early or come in late. Some appointments and other obligations can't always be scheduled around working hours.

Or maybe you just need to escape from the office. If you do, you're not the only one. Jobvite's Job Seeker Nation Survey reports that 34% of respondents had taken a sick day when they weren't actually ill.

In most cases, a reasonable supervisor will understand and grant an employee's request for a partial day off, provided the excuse is legitimate or sounds that way.

Here's advice on company guidelines for taking time off, tips for asking permission to leave, and some of the best (and worst) excuses for asking to leave early or come in late to work.

Factors That Help (or Hurt) Your Chances of Leaving Early

Typically, it's not a big deal to get out of work early once in a while. But some circ*mstances can make it easier—or harder—to get your manager's approval. If you're lucky, you work for a company that's flexible and understanding. If not, you may have to work around company policy and formal approval to get permission for time off.

Organizational culture. Company culture is an important factor. Some companies expect workers to report early and stay late in the office to prove their dedication, while others encourage employees to maintain their well-being and keep a healthy work-life balance.

Company policy may provide for excused absences for part of the workday. If you're not sure how much time off you’re allowed to take for partial day absences, check with your employee handbook, supervisor, or Human Resources department.

Your relationship with your supervisor. If you get along with your boss, it may be easier to persuade them to allow you to leave early. Some of this is within your control—for example, you can foster a trusting relationship by being honest and reliable—and some of it is the luck of the draw. If you and your boss have communication issues or other interpersonal problems, it will obviously be harder to convince them.

Your work history. Employees who skip work, arrive late, or leave early frequently without a solid reason will likely have trouble getting their requests approved.

Tips for Asking if You Can Leave

Frame your request the right way. How you ask to leave work early will also influence how your request is received. The best approach in many situations is to frame your action as a request (as opposed to simply informing your supervisor that you will be leaving early). You're more likely to get a positive response if you ask rather than tell.

Give updates on any projects with impending deadlines. This can reassure supervisors that your absence will have minimal impact. If relevant, mention how you will make up the time by working at home or that you plan to come in early.

Emphasize the benefits to the company. Depending on your supervisor's personality, it can also help to include how this will benefit your performance in the long run. For example, “If I take care of this dentist appointment now, I won’t have to deal with it when we’re busy with that big project next month.”

Choose the right time. Be mindful of when you’re asking to leave early. If it’s a slow week, your request is more likely to be granted.

Provide documentation if required. If you need to provide an email or note documenting your absence, review sample email messages and letters before composing your own.

Good Reasons for Leaving Work Early

Although there are both good—and not so good—excuses to leave work early, remember that your employer’s response will likely depend more on your standing as an employee than on the reason you provide.

Although it depends on your company’s culture, as long as you are in good standing and your supervisor is a rational, empathetic person, he or she will understand the situation and grant a request to leave early now and then.

Here are some commonly accepted reasons to leave work early:

• Religious obligations or community-related work, such as volunteering at an event offered by a local non-profit community organization (especially if your organization encourages volunteerism).
• Business networking activities, including participating in local chamber of commerce meetings, or attending industry events or conventions (particularly if networking with potential business partners is valued by your employer).
• Client-related obligations, such as traveling to a client assignment that will take place early the next day, or going on an outing with an important client.
• Professional development activities, such as attending a workshop, leaving early for a class, or to work on a group project for a course that your supervisor has encouraged you to take.
• Productivity-related requests, including taking your work to a nearby coffee shop or library to focus, or leaving early (when work is complete) after staying in the office very late the night before.
• Employment-related activities, such as a job interview if you have been notified of a future layoff at your current employer.
• Family obligations, including sudden illness, accident or death, or if you need to pick up your child if the school has closed early or if your child is sick. In some workplaces, you may also be able to leave early to take your child to the doctor or your pet to the veterinarian.
• Personal reasons: Illness, for example, or a condition such as severe cramps, migraine, an allergic reaction, or a dental emergency such as a root canal or a toothache. Doctor’s appointments or medical tests can also be valid reasons to leave the office before closing time. In general, though, you should aim to schedule these outside of business hours if possible. (If you do need to leave work early for a medical appointment, it may be beneficial to note that you attempted to schedule the appointment before or after work, or during your lunch hour, but that no appointments were available.)
• Urgent or important home or finance issues, including a meeting with a mortgage counselor, attending the closing for the purchase of a new home, emergency problems at your home such as a burst pipe, broken furnace, fire or break-in, or the delivery of furniture, appliances, or some other item that requires a signature and that must take place during business hours.

Bad Reasons for Leaving Work Early

Again, whether or not your boss grants your request to leave early very much depends on how they perceive you as an employee. For example, do you put in 100% effort all the time? If the answer is essentially “yes,” then the best reason to give is an honest one.

That being said, there are certainly some bad reasons to provide as an explanation for why you would like to leave early.

These reasons include:

• Feeling bored or not having enough to do. You'll get extra credit if you ask to take on more work when you're all caught up.
• Being hungover. Leaving because you’re sick is one thing, but don’t expect to get much sympathy for a condition you brought on yourself.
• Going to hang out with friends. Even if your best buddy is coming into town, if you need to leave for an optional recreational activity, in most companies you would need to take a formal personal day for this.
• Going on an interview for a new job (unless you have been laid off).
• Receiving bad news at work. For example, if you are unhappy with the notice about next year's diminished salary increase, if you received a less-than-stellar performance review, or if your supervisor just criticized your project, be a team player and get through the rest of the day, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
• Feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. You don’t want to make it seem like you can’t handle stress. If you find that you can’t focus at your desk, request to book a meeting room to yourself for an hour, or ask if you can take your work to a nearby coffee shop.
• Going to a recreational activity. Whether you have a softball game after work or you booked a yoga class—unless it is a company-sponsored event—in most cases, it is not acceptable to leave work early for these reasons.
• Minor personal issues, such as a fight with a friend or a breakup with the girlfriend you’ve been dating for only two weeks.
• Non-urgent errands that can be dealt with outside of work, like a hair appointment, getting your oil changed, grocery shopping, or rushing out to go to the bank, when it could be done online or during the weekend.
  

Stick to the Facts

The worst reason to leave early is a fake one. Your credibility (and your ability to leave work early) will not fare well if you’re caught in a lie. Even if you think you’ve covered your tracks, it’s not worth risking the trust of your supervisor and your fellow employees.

With many people posting almost everything they do on social media, it's easy to get caught. Posting that you had a great time at a ball game or at the beach, for example, when you told your boss you were leaving because you felt ill won't go over too well. Check your privacy settings to manage who views your posts.

Don't Take Advantage

Even when your requests are routinely approved, don’t take advantage of your boss’s flexibility. Although there are both good and bad reasons to leave early, even a good reason used too many times can quickly become problematic.

If you foresee a legitimate, unavoidable event that will cause you to leave work repeatedly (for example, a physical therapy appointment that repeats over the course of a month, a child’s recurring doctor’s appointment, and so on), then you should be upfront with your boss and prepare a plan to ensure your work is covered.

Ultimately, the best way to make sure you’re able to leave work early when you need to is to only make this request when it is valid or necessary.