Half the respondents are honest and always give the true reason for being late for work, 43 per cent admitted they sometimes lie why they are late, while seven per cent always lie.
Thirteen per cent of those polled say they are late for work at least once a week, 14 per cent are late several times a week, while three per cent said they are not late because they work flexitime.
The survey, conducted on a sample of 300 respondents, shows that more men than women are late for work. Thirty-one per cent of them are late for work every day or almost every day, as opposed to 21 per cent of women.
Half the respondents said they are 15 minutes late, a third are five minutes late, 16 per cent are up to half an hour late, while six per cent are more than half an hour late.
Most punctual are employees of large companies, with 28 per cent of them saying they are never late for work. Among the late-comers, 25 per cent said they are reproached for being late by their boss, while 15% are reproached by their colleagues. However, 60 per cent said they are never criticised for arriving late for work.
More men than women are criticised for being late, and as many as 75 per cent of employees call their boss to say they will be late for work.
Respondents cited "difficulty waking up", "traffic" and "obligations with children" as reasons for coming late to work. Among more bizarre answers was: "I was waiting for frogs to cross the road."