21 Good Excuses to Work from Home

Are you looking to work from home today? Well, if you have the technology to do your job from the comfort of your home office, this article will give you a comprehensive list of good excuses to work from home.

Believe me, I’ve been there and have used these work from home excuses more than once. We can all use a good excuse for working from home every now and then. Who doesn’t love a good excuse to work from home? Work excuses can certainly vary especially when it comes to working from home.

Working from home is a luxury for some of us who actually can do our job remotely. Not everyone can work from home. If you are in the service industry you just have to be at the restaurant or the hotel.

If you work on the manufacturing floor you simply have to be at your work station. You really have no work-from-home options.

If you are a remote worker and want the day off from work, here are 11 good excuses to miss work on short notice. If you are a non-remote worker here are 20 good excuses to get out of work entirely for the day. If you simply need a good reason to leave work early, you have many different options.

This article will address many valid reasons to work from home that you can use if you aren’t allowed to WFH on a regular basis. I’ve actually experienced both working from home regularly and on a part-time basis in my working career.

Believe me, it’s much nicer NOT to have to come up with a last minute excuse to work from home but there are many good excuses for working from home if you need them.

Before we get into a list of good excuses for work from home, let’s briefly cover the state of working from home in today’s workforce.

What is Working from Home?

So, what does it mean to work remotely? To put it in simple terms, working from home is the ability to do your job via your computer using a secure logon into your company’s network from the comfort of your own home.

The acronym WFH is often used to refer to the concept of working from home. It is also considered remote work.

Most companies today provide employees with laptop computers so that they can easily transport the laptop home each evening or whenever they feel there will be a need to work from home the next day.

When the COVID outbreak occurred in 2020 many companies ensured that whoever could work from home was allowed to do so.

Remote Work is not Going Away Anytime Soon

“The near-complete global shutdown due to
COVID made working remotely essential.
Meetings on Zoom and workers staring at
computer screens from their kitchen tables
remain an enduring image of life during the
pandemic. As a result of this forced work from-home test,
many employers discovered a
somewhat surprising result: remote work worked.”

Glassdoor

If you do have the ability to work from home and did so during the pandemic on a regular basis, you certainly can understand the advantages of working from home.

If you’re looking to skip the commute today, here is a bulletproof list of perfectly reasonable excuses to work from home for the day in your pajamas. They are also called WFH excuses which are essentially work from home excuses. The following list aren’t necessarily good excuses to work from home permanently but those are also addressed in an FAQ at the bottom of the article.

So if you need a good excuse for work from home read on!

21 Good Excuses to Work from Home

1. Car Needs Servicing – A Good Excuse to Work from Home

You have an appointment to bring your car for a tune up and an oil change. You also are a little concerned about your tires and think you might need new ones in the near future.

The appointment is mid-day and it really wouldn’t make sense to come in early and leave for the appointment or to come into work after the appointment. This will always be one of the solid excuses to WFH.

2. Daughter has a Doctor’s Appointment – One of the Top Working from Home Excuses

Your daughter has a scheduled doctor’s appointment. She has been experiencing flu-like symptoms for a few days now and you decided to bring her to the doctor since she’s missed a few days of school already.

This is certainly a good excuse to work from home because by the time you get back from the appointment it will be too late to drive into work. Your boss will never question you as this is certainly one of the most legitimate working from home excuses.

3. Snowstorm is Predicted – One of the Best Excuses to Work from Home Last Minute

Instead of driving all the way into work and having to leave early because a snowstorm is predicted, you think the smarter move would be to work from home. You simply don’t want to risk getting stuck in the snow on the way home.

I’ve used this excuse many times and certainly consider it one of the best excuses to work from home last minute but the only problem is, you need Mother Nature to come through for you!

4. Dental Appointment – One of the Many Valid Reasons to Work from Home

You have a scheduled dental appointment at 1:00 and the dental office is many miles from work. So it definitely makes sense to work from home in the morning and after the dental appointment without having to make the long drive into work. Just try to make it a point to make your appointment somewhere in the middle of the day to validate your

5. Jury Duty – One of the Most Reliable and Good Excuses for Working from Home

This cannot be used as a last minute excuse to work from home because you will receive a notification from the courts weeks before the jury date. If you explain your situation to your boss ahead of time you should be able to work from home when you aren’t at the courthouse. A possible scenario is the following.

You have to be at the courthouse at 9 AM and chances are you won’t be picked to sit on the trial. Every time you have gone in the past they have let you out before noontime. It wouldn’t make sense to trek into work just for the afternoon. So it makes sense to work from home after jury duty.

Obviously, if you do get chosen for the trial it could be a prolonged absence from work and you won’t be able to work from home during that time. Being requested for jury duty is one of the better working from home excuses as it’s one of those excuses to WFH that is backed by the law and your civic duty.

6. Sick Pet – A Solid Last Minute Excuse to Work from Home

You need to care for your sick dog. He’s been having stomach problems and you will have to bring him to the vet if you can get an appointment on short notice. This is a great reason to work from home especially if your manager is a pet lover and can relate to your plight.

7. Bad Traffic – One of the Classic WFH Excuses

Due to some work that is being done on the highway which is your regular route to work, you think it will take a long time to get into work today. It makes more sense to work from home instead of sitting in traffic for hours and wasting my working hours.

This is a perfect work from home excuse but you need to ensure that there is a valid issue on the highway or back roads if that’s how you commute to work. Just make it a point each morning to get up a little early to check the traffic and take advantage of this excuse to WFH whenever you possibly can.

8. Exposed to COVID – One of the Best Excuses for Working from Home

You know for a fact that you were around someone who came down with COVID in the last few days. You think it makes sense to work from home at least for a few days to minimize the risk to your coworkers. You should also follow the protocol your work has put together for being exposed to COVID.

You will make it a point to take a COVID test each day just to ensure you haven’t come down with it. It is certainly a top notch work from home excuse and one of the best excuses for working from home.

9. Tested Positive for COVID – Just Might be the Best Excuse to Work from Home

You have the symptoms and took a home COVID test and you tested positive. You feel good enough to work but obviously, you cannot come to work for at least the next 5 days. Could this be the best excuse to work from home? Well, in the world of WFH excuses, it just might be the best.

You follow the guidance of the CDC and ask a Human Resources rep at your company what the exact policy is if you’ve tested positive for COVID.

It’s hard to argue that this may be the best excuse for working from home. I don’t wish it on any of you but if you’re going to work at all it will be from home to prevent you from infecting coworkers.

10. Work Being Done on House – One of the Finest and Most Reliable Work Excuses

This is a classic bulletproof excuse and could be one of the following:

• Plumber is expected to fix a leak in the pipes.
• A contractor is coming to give you an estimate on reinforcing your deck.
• An HVAC guy is due to check out your whole house air conditioning system because it appears to be laboring and not working properly.
• Cable guy is coming within a 4-hour window to replace your wifi router to one with a stronger signal.
• You’re having rugs replaced in a couple of rooms in your house and the workers are coming today.
• The electrician is coming to add some new plugs in your home office.
• Your hot water heater is a rental and the electric company has to come to replace it as you have no hot water.

11. Back Issues – One of the Most Irrefutable Excuses to WFH

You strained your back playing pickup basketball the previous night. It was really painful during the short drive home so making the drive all the way to work today is out of the question. It’s one of the most viable work excuses, especially one to work from home.

There is a silver lining. Sitting in your office chair isn’t too bad so you should be able to work from home for today and probably a few more days until your back pain clears up. This is another one of the better excuses to work from home last minute as your back issues flared up the night before.

12. Important Package Delivery – A Good Excuse for Working From Home

You’re expecting an important package delivery today. Lately, there have been a bunch of thefts in your neighborhood of boxes left out on the stoop.

You want to ensure that as soon as the delivery happens you move the package into the house. Is this one of the best excuses to work from home? Maybe not, but it’s certainly a valid and reliable excuse for working from home.

13. Must Return Cable Box

You aren’t using one of your TVs in the house but there is a cable box attached to that TV. You are paying a monthly rental for that cable box. So, to rid yourself of that monthly payment you need to return the cable box to that cable company’s location which is about an hour from your house and they aren’t open on the weekends.

14. Wife is Sick – One of the Best Reasons to Work From Home Last Minute

Your wife typically makes lunches for the kids and drives them to school. She also picks them up from school and after-school activities. So you have to take care of those responsibilities as your wife is sick in bed. This is surely one of the always reliable reasons to work from home last minute as you simply have no other options.

15. Need to Bring Parent to Hospital – One of the Rock-Solid Work From Home Excuses

Your father has been experiencing some physical ailments and his doctor wants to do a full workup on him. You need to bring him to the hospital in the morning so you will have time to work from home in the afternoon.

You can probably even make up the lost time later in the day from home.

16. Power is Out and Need to Feed Gas Generator

You lost power due to a storm but you can still work because you have a standalone gas generator. The problem is you need to ensure that the generator has enough gas and doesn’t run out.

Also, when the power comes back you have to shut off the generator, put it away, and switch over to street power. Your wife has no idea how to do this so you need to stick around and work from home.

17. Tree is Down in the Yard

Due to the same storm a fairly large tree came down in your yard and in part of the street. You need to take some time and clean it up with your chainsaw but it shouldn’t take all day.

You should be able to work a few hours from home while you aren’t cutting up the downed tree. It is certainly one of the valid WFH excuses you can use to stay at home for the day.

18. Need to Complete a High Priority Project – A Solid Work from Home Excuse

You need a day working from home to completely devote your time to a current project. You tell your boss that one day away from the distractions of the office should allow you to meet my deadlines to complete the project.

If you’re looking for one of the most bona fide excuses to work from home for the day, working on a project for work is certainly one of them. The only problem is, you’ll have to make it a point to complete that project!

19. Water Main Break in the Neighborhood

The water company notified us that there was a water main break in my neighborhood. As a result, we are out of water. I need to go pick up some bottles of water for the household.

The water company has also requested that someone be home to test the faucets after they notify us that the water main break has been fixed.

20. Daycare is Closed for the Day – One of the Bona Fide Excuses for Work from Home

You have been notified by daycare that there is no heat so they cannot accept children until it is fixed. Your wife cannot stay at home with the kids because she is a nurse and has to be at the hospital.

Your only option is to work from home and try to ensure that your kids are occupied while you are working. Daycare being closed for the day will always be one of the best excuses for work from home especially if your company is known for emphasizing work-life balance.

21. Your Wife is Having Surgery

Your wife is having dental surgery which requires someone to drive her home. Surgery is scheduled for the morning and you need to bring her to the dental office and home after the surgery.

You should be able to make up for the lost time working from home into the early evening. Certainly a good excuse to work from home.

Advantages of Remote Working

The benefits of working from home are plentiful for both the employee and the employer. Here is a quick table of the benefits to the employee and the employer.

Benefits of Working from Home Comparison Table

Employee Benefits	Employer Benefits
Saves money on gas and wear and tear on car.	Saves money on office space if the employee is remote full-time.
Saves time by not having to commute to and from work.	Perceived by employees as being more progressive and caring about work-life balance.
Has more flexibility of schedule making home life easier to manage.	Happier and more productive workforce.
More comfortable working environment.	Larger talent pool of prospective employees if the position is full-time remote.
More time to work on projects and assignments.	Lower turnover rates.
Can live anywhere if you are working remote full-time.	Increased job satisfaction.

Work from Home Jobs – The Most Common in the Workforce

Software Developer

As a software developer myself, I have been afforded the luxury of working from home for many years, even before the pandemic struck back in 2020. The job title itself allows me to work at my own pace on a pre-defined project.

Regularly I will meet with my fellow department coworkers via Microsoft Teams or some other video conferencing software. Also, based on who is requesting the software development, I may have to meet directly with a project manager or, oftentimes, directly with the client or customer.

Software developer is one of the most common work from home job titles around. If you peruse the list of LinkedIn remote jobs in the software development arena, you will quickly see that a large majority of the jobs will state “Remote” in the job description.

Call Center Representative

Call center representatives are also among the most common work-from-home jobs. They are responsible for answering customer calls, resolving issues and concerns, and providing assistance with products or services.

With advancements in technology, call center representatives can easily work remotely and connect with customers through various channels such as phone, email, or chat. This job offers flexibility, a steady income, and requires minimal experience or education.

Customer Service Representative

Another opportunity to work from home is as a customer service representative. They are responsible for answering customer inquiries, resolving complaints, and providing information about products or services.

This job requires above-average communication skills, problem-solving capabilities, and the ability to work independently. Customer service representatives can work for a variety of industries, including retail, healthcare, or finance, and can easily work remotely with the help of technology.

On a personal note, I have a nephew who works for Fidelity in the financial services area as a customer service representative. He is able to live and work at home in a remote area using his own cell phone to connect with customers.

He is required to work at the office one week out of each month but that is a small price to pay to be able to work from home for the rest of the month. This happens to be the policy at Fidelity where he works but other customer service representatives at other companies can work from home full-time.

Writer or Editor

Writing and editing jobs are also common work-from-home jobs. Writers are responsible for creating content such as articles, blog posts, or social media posts, while editors are responsible for reviewing and editing content for accuracy and clarity.

These jobs require excellent writing and editing skills, attention to detail, and the ability to meet deadlines. Writers and editors can work for a variety of industries, including media, marketing, or publishing, and can easily work remotely.

Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants or VAs are responsible for providing administrative support to clients remotely. This job includes tasks such as scheduling appointments, managing emails, and organizing files.

Virtual assistants are often utilized in the world of blogging in an effort to offload some of the more mundane tasks to the virtual assistant. Some of these tasks could include posting to social media, writing and editing blog posts, and making small cosmetic changes to a website.

Oftentimes virtual assistant companies utilize employees in countries that are more cost-effective to the employers utilizing their services.

A VA requires excellent organizational skills, communication skills, and the ability to work independently. This job offers flexibility and the ability to work with clients from various industries, including healthcare, digital media such as blogging, finance, or real estate.

Good Excuses to Work From Home – A Recap

I hope this comprehensive list of good excuses to work from home helps you out in the near future. Just having the ability to work from home is a godsend to many workers especially during the outbreak of COVID and even to this day.

These days working from home isn’t considered a bad thing and it has been proven to be an effective way to work. What is work from home is not an enigma anymore in the workplace.

Remote work is also a great way to reach a much larger talent pool of workers for a company. You aren’t only limited to employees who live within a certain radius of headquarters.

Being afforded the ability to work from home is certainly a good reason for job change if you work in a company that is rigid and requires all of their employees to be in the office. Instead of having to come up with excuses for working from home it would be nice if the company didn’t find work from home (wfh) taboo.

Most companies today allow their workers to work from home if they can and those workers won’t have to come up with excuses for work from home. It saves the company when it comes to providing offices and it adds a palatable work-life balance for the employee.

Check out LinkedIn remote jobs for work from home opportunities. It’s certainly a new working world out there and, in my mind, for the better!

Frequently Asked Questions About Work From Home Excuses

How can I ensure my boss trusts me to work from home?

Utilizing working from home excuses can oftentimes put a strain on a working relationship, specifically between employee and boss. You must pick your spots and be as honest as possible when utilizing an excuse for work from home.

Trust is a crucial element in any work arrangement, including working from home. To ensure that your boss trusts you to work from home, you need to communicate clearly, set realistic goals, and deliver quality work that matches or exceeds what you have produced while in the office.

Even if your boss has recently shown signs he might be leaving the company, it’s still important to ensure he trusts you so that, if he does leave, you are both on good terms.

You should always be available during working hours, respond to messages promptly, and provide regular updates on your progress. If, for some reason, you cannot be at your desk to respond to messages during regular working hours make sure your boss knows ahead of time.

Additionally, you should be transparent about your work schedule, take accountability for your actions, and be proactive in addressing any issues that arise. Just think of remote work as an extension of working in the office. You are simply at a remote location.

It’s also important to demonstrate your commitment to the job by maintaining a professional demeanor, dressing appropriately for Zoom meetings, and adhering to company policies and procedures.

You should also be willing to collaborate with colleagues and participate in team meetings and projects. By doing so, you’ll show your boss that you’re a reliable and responsible employee who can be trusted to work from home.

How can I stay motivated when working from home?

Working from home can be challenging, especially if you’re used to working in an office environment with colleagues and a set routine. To stay motivated, you need to establish a routine that works for you, set achievable goals, and create a comfortable and productive workspace.

You should also take breaks regularly, exercise, and stay connected with colleagues through virtual meetings and chats. You should just try to think of remote work as an extension of being in the office.

Another way to stay motivated is to find ways to make your work more enjoyable. Let’s face it, working from home has many advantages. You could listen to music, take short walks during breaks, and even have CNBC on in the background in your home office.

You should also prioritize your tasks and focus on the most important ones first, as this will give you a sense of accomplishment and keep you motivated to tackle the rest of your to-do list. This shouldn’t be a change from when you have worked in the office in the past.

Finally, it’s important to remember why you’re working from home in the first place. Whether it’s to spend more time with family, avoid a long commute, save money on gas and wear and tear on your car, or simply have more flexibility, keeping your goals in mind can help you stay motivated and focused on your work.

How can I balance work and personal life when working from home?

Balancing work and personal life can be a challenge when working from home, as the boundaries between the two can become blurred. To achieve a healthy work-life balance, you need to establish clear boundaries, create a routine that works for you, and communicate your needs with your employer and family.

One way to establish boundaries is to create a designated workspace that is separate from your personal space. This will help you mentally separate work from home life and make it easier to switch off at the end of the day. Use an extra bedroom as your home office and let the family know this is your space even if it’s only during working hours.

You should also set clear working hours and communicate these with your employer and family, so they know when you’re available and when you’re not. Stress to them that they should think of you being away at the office during working hours even if you are a few feet away in your home office.

Creating a routine that works for you is also important, just as you would do if you were commuting into the office. This could include setting aside time for exercise, breaks, and personal activities, as well as prioritizing your tasks and focusing on the most important ones first.

You should also communicate your needs with your employer and family, so they can support you in achieving a healthy work-life balance.

What are some good excuses to work from home permanently?

1. Medical reasons: Due to a medical condition or disability, it is necessary for you to work from home permanently in order to accommodate your needs. An example may be that you have been diagnosed with a physical ailment that requires you to regularly attend doctor’s appointments and hospital visits.
2. Relocation: You are relocating to a different city or state and will no longer be able to commute to the office. However, you are committed to staying with the company and believe that you can continue to be productive while working remotely. There have already been precedents set at the company whereby others have moved across the country and have still kept working in a remote capacity.
3. Family obligations: You have significant family obligations that require you to be at home during the day, such as caring for a child or elderly relative. Working from home permanently would allow you to balance these responsibilities while still being able to work. Your company has always harped on work-life balance and this would be a prime example of fulfilling that balance.
4. Commuting challenges: Your commute to the office is extremely challenging due to traffic, public transportation issues, road work, or other factors. Working from home permanently would allow you to avoid these challenges and be more productive without having to deal with the commute which leads to many non-productive hours in your working day.
5. Environmental concerns: You are committed to reducing your carbon footprint and believe that working from home permanently is the best way for you to do so. By eliminating my commute, you can significantly reduce your carbon emissions and contribute to a more sustainable future. This concern may be a tough one to get approved as this could be a complaint of anyone in the company.

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