So, you hit the snooze button one too many times and now you're an hour late for work.

You are so busted. And the hairy traffic/tardy train/recalcitrant child excuse is wearing thin.

What do you do? Lie, of course.

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Discuss: Worst Excuses?

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The study by CareerBuilder.com found that as many as 13 percent of American workers show up late at least once a week and that 25 percent are tardy at least once a month.

One in five of those polled said they fabricate excuses and lie to the boss about their reasons for being late.

More than a quarter blame traffic for their tardiness, while 11 percent 'fessed-up to over sleeping. Other reasons included forgetting something at home, feeling sick and the inability to find house or car keys.

And the more novel excuses for being late? How about running over a goat? At least that's what one person told her boss.

According to the survey, here are the top 10 examples of the most unusual excuses employees have offered for coming late to work:

1. "I dreamed that I was fired, so I didn't bother to get out of bed."
2. "I had to take my cat to the dentist."
3. "I went all the way to the office and realized I was still in my pajamas and had to go home to change."
4. "I saw that you weren't in the office, so I went out looking for you."
5. "I couldn't find the right tie, so I had to wait for the stores to open so I could buy one."
6. "My son tried to flush our ferret down the toilet and I needed to tend to the ferret."
7. "I ran over a goat."
8. "I stopped for a bagel sandwich, the store was robbed and the police required everyone to stay for questioning."
9. "A bee flew in my car and attacked me and I had to pull over."
10. "I wet my pants and went home to change."

The survey also found that while most hiring managers don't typically question the validity of the reasons provided, 35 percent said most of the time they don't believe them.

"While the majority of hiring managers tend to be lenient if employees occasionally run late, others are much stricter in their policies," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com. "Thirty percent of hiring managers say they don't care if their employees come in late as long as their work is completed on time with good quality. However, one in 10 hiring managers say they would consider terminating an employee if he or she arrives late once or twice in a given year. One in five say a pink slip may be in order if an employee is late three times in a year."

Monday is the most popular day for late arrivals, the survey found.

CareerBuilder.com said it polled more than 2,500 workers for its late-to-work survey.