As an office worker, you will inevitably be late sometimes due to some unexpected circumstances, such as traffic jams or some episodes in life. Some companies may tolerate you being late occasionally, while others have strict rules about this. Whatever the reason for being late, it’s important to proactively communicate with your supervisor and sincerely apologize. First, apologize for being late, then explain the reason for being late and give a reasonable and honest explanation. If your mistake was particularly serious, you may want to write an apology letter or email explaining it.
Assess the Situation
- Estimate how late you will be. Being a few minutes late may not be a big deal for some jobs, but if you’re going to be late for a long time, you may want to call ahead or apologize to the person involved when you arrive.
- Punctuality has different importance in different situations. If you are about to attend an important meeting, it is especially important to arrive on time. In addition, some jobs have stricter requirements on punctuality.
- Notice in advance. If you need to be more than 5 minutes late, it’s best to call your boss in advance and tell her your approximate arrival time.
Apologize in Person
- Apologize sincerely and don’t let your boss think you’re being perfunctory. Of course, you will also regret being late.
- The boss may not understand why you suddenly apologized because he didn’t notice that you were late, so you should explain the reason when you apologize.
- Be honest unless it’s something inappropriate to bring up in the workplace, be honest and state the real reason for your tardiness. The more complex the story you make up, the more likely your boss is to think you’re lying. Lies are always exposed. The briefer the reason, the better.
- Admit your mistake. Let your boss know that you recognize that being late is a cost to the company. Being late is a violation of company policy and, in the worst-case scenario, could result in the loss of a client.
- If your boss doesn’t fire you on the spot (which may happen in some cases), it’s time to express your gratitude. You can say, “I appreciate you giving me another chance.”
- Don’t make excuses. If your boss wants to teach you a lesson for being late, don’t interrupt her with an excuse. Just let her know that you recognize the impact of being late.
- Don’t interrupt an ongoing meeting to apologize. If you arrive at a meeting late, it’s best to get involved as quickly as possible without disturbing others. Rather than interrupting the agenda to apologize, wait until the meeting is over before apologizing.
- Avoid making the same mistakes again. Everyone is inevitably late once or twice, but if you are late frequently, your boss will find out sooner or later. In this case, no matter how sincere your apology is, repeating the same mistake shows that you don’t realize that you were wrong.
Write a Letter of Apology
- Write an apology letter or apology email when appropriate. If you are particularly late, you may need to write an apology letter or email in addition to a verbal apology. Or maybe your lateness has caused great losses to the company, such as losing a customer, so you must write an apology letter or email.
- Format the apology letter or email to be formal, with your name, home address, and email address at the top, followed by the date, and below the date is your boss’s name, work address, and email address.
- Beginning with “Dear” is a safer term in business letters. If you usually address your boss by name, put her name after “Dear”, otherwise just use “Ms. So-and-so” or “Mr. So-and-so” instead.
- State the reason for writing the letter or email, making sure to mention the date and time you were late, as well as the reason for the lateness.
- Next, show that you are aware of the negative impact of your tardiness and admit that you have caused harm to the company.
- End your apology letter or email with a statement of determination. Tell us how you will avoid being late again in the future, what steps you will take, etc.
- At the end of your apology letter or email, end with an expression of gratitude to your boss for the second chance.
- Write “Yours sincerely” at the end of the letter. If the apology letter is printed, leave room for your signature and place your printed name underneath. If it’s an email, just print the name.
Tips
- Notify your boss in person, not through other people’s mouths. Don’t let your boss hear from others that you are late.
- Do something else to compensate, and act natural at the same time.