We know you know telling your boss you won’t make it to work because you “just put a casserole in the oven” or “you woke up in a good mood and don’t want to ruin it” is ridiculous (if not slightly respectable). And yet, they're some of the most dubious excuses employers responding to a CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive survey said they'd heard in real life.

There was also the employee who got, ahem, lucky and didn’t know where they were the next morning, the employee who wanted to heal a gall stone holistically, and the employee who accidentally got on a plane. Overall, 28 percent of employees have called in “sick” to work over the past year — a four percent decrease from the year before that. When employees were asked why they let their imaginations run so wild with excuses, 30 percent said they didn’t feel like going into the office, 29 percent said they wanted a day to relax, and others chalked the extra time to themselves for doctor’s appointments, catching up on sleep, and bad weather.

What’s funny (apart from the obvious) is that 49 percent of the over 3,000 employees (and 2,203 hiring managers) surveyed admitted their company offers paid time off. However, the aggressive business culture of today makes 23 percent of those with access to PTO feel like they have to make up an excuse to stay home. There are the employees who soldier through actual sickness and exhaustion because they can’t afford to miss a day of pay, but for the most part, employees are lying their faces off.

You guys, your employers know you need a day off, especially the ones that offer paid time off. They want you to take time for yourself, to relax, to catch up on sleep, and Scandal. But telling bold-faced lies? Most of these employees are lucky they didn’t get fired. Nearly one in five employers said they have fired an employee for giving a fake excuse (as some tend to investigate), and a whopping 22 percent have fired an employee for outing themselves on social media.

Here’s a suggestion: Request that time off and tell your boss it’s for your health. Science has shown time out of the office sharpens focus, relieves stress, cultivates family bonds, and boosts creativity. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found new stimuli, such as faces, places, smells, and taste, help unlock creative ideas whether or not the job is in arts or entertainment. There’s also research published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life that found people derive more short-term happiness from two or more short breaks spread throughout the year.

We’ve got to imagine, too, lounging around late with a huge cup of coffee is much more enjoyable when you’re not worrying your boss will probably creep your Twitter for the truth.