20 of the Best Excuses to Work From Home (Permanent & Temporary)

In today’s world, you shouldn’t need any excuses to work from home.

While not every company can be fully-remote, even having the flexibility to work from home a few days a week or whenever needed should not be an issue. 

But some executives and managers are stuck in the working stone age. They’ll either offer limited flexibility or have required you back to the office after being remote previously.

So if you are looking to negotiate working from home permanently, for a week, or for the day – we got some legit excuses you can use.

Note: Most managers are aware of different excuses to work from home, so don’t be surprised if some will be tough on your requests. And especially if you want a full-time schedule with days where you aren’t in the office physically. However, use your best judgment and provide details as needed.

Best Excuses to Work from Home Permanently

These excuses are great to consider when you want to work from home every day or even negotiate a hybrid schedule. Even a few days a week working remotely can be a win!

1. You can’t concentrate as easily

While there certainly are distractions at home, you might be finding you concentrate better in your own unique space.

And if you work in a noisy office or have co-workers that stop by your desk often, it can be a challenge to get work done or be able to have deep focus. This is a great excuse to go remote or get a few days per week working at home.

Now you may get a manager who rolls their eyes when using this valid excuse. But back up your reasons and ask for a trial period if you can’t get approval for a consistent work from home schedule.

2. You have a disability

If you have a disability, it can be challenging to get to the office or even work surrounded by others. One of the amazing benefits of remote work is it helps people with disabilities land great job opportunities.

Transportation issues and other medical needs can be a huge hurdle and induce more stress on the mental and physical health of disabled employees.

But having accommodations to work from home can relieve those challenges and ensures everyone is working in the most efficient way possible.

And for employers, you get to hire more diverse and talented folks with disabilities. So this really can be a win for both sides.

3. You prefer to be productive on your own schedule

Getting to work your own schedule is a bit tougher, but some organizations are very open to this and we are seeing it happen more.

But what if you are a night owl and looking for overnight remote work? Maybe you’d like to break your day into various working hours? Or maybe you’d like a middle shift due to family obligations?

The traditional 9-5 has its flaws and you might be more productive and happy getting to work at times that best suit you, as long as you deliver results. Layout your plan, show why this benefits your employer too, and how you’ll ensure you're communicating with your team and delivering top performance.

4. You want to reduce your commute time

The average one-way commute for Americans is 27.6 minutes, according to Zippia. This means that about 55 minutes per day, five days a week on average is dedicated to commuting.

If we do some quick math, you’re over 4 hours a week of your life wasted. It might not seem terrible until you extrapolate that by the year and over the lifetime you’ll be working.

And if your commute is much higher than the average, it really makes your head spin.

That commute time can be better spent being with family or getting a head start on work. Not to mention, the reduction in stress, car maintenance, and other transportation costs by not traveling all day.

Best Excuses to Work From Home for a Day

Maybe you aren’t the biggest fan of working from home every day. And yes, there are people who feel working from home sucks, and that’s okay.

Or maybe you already know your company will never approve of working from home a few days a week. However,  if you are looking to get a day where you can work at home, consider some of these last-minute excuses.

5. Sick family member (child)

6. Repairman coming to home 

7. Have a cold, flu, Covid

8. Having car trouble

9. Death in the family

10. Need a mental health day

11. Summoned for jury duty

12. Specific religious celebration

13. Medical or dental appointment 

14. Want to focus on a work project

15. Take care of a sick pet

16. A family emergency

17. Weather is bad

18. Traffic and/or road work

19. Issue with child care or school

20. Pregnancy

Naturally, you don’t want to lie about why you need a day to work from home. As those fibs may catch up to you! But sometimes you might just need to work from home one day. Or maybe something legit did come up preventing you from commuting to work. 

Regardless, if your boss is the type to really question things, make sure you choose the right excuse to work remotely and back it up. 

Final Thoughts

If your job and field of work are done via a computer, then you most likely can easily work from home. It’s amazing how some leaders still balk at this concept due to their own underlying issues. 

And typically it is things like:

• They don’t know how to manage when you are working from home.
• They use stereotypes that have been proven to not be true about remote work.
• Have serious trust issues and think employees need to be babysat all the time. 

It’s no wonder why people don’t want to work when managers and leadership can’t treat their workers like adults. 

But the world is rapidly changing and evolving, as is the workplace. 

And this means leaders need to adapt or struggle as their competition does. And it was found that if a company goes fully remote, the business can likely fill roles 33% faster than any competitors.

Hopefully, you have a good manager and team where you don’t need an excuse to work from home. But if you do, use the above as a guide for your given situation.

And if you are looking for a legit remote job, come check out AI Jobs.