A mucca of mine was asked to give a reference for a consultant the UK office of his company was considering in employing, who had worked in his office back in the 2000s. This gentleman was employed before his time at the company, so he had to dig out his employment record from the archives of HR and to his surprise, he discovered this interesting track record:
Excuses- Sept 2006 to June 2007

22 Sept-Oyster poisoning report delayed a week. Client will not pay.
02 Oct-flight allegedly delayed in Glasgow - visit performed a day late.
11 Oct "Can’t use visa to book a flight for tommorow." Office booked flight for him, never got on the plane.
30 Nov: Must go to doctor for bad knee.
11 Dec: Broken collar bone

2007
22 Jan- had a flight on Sunday 21, told office it had been cancelled, travel agency says he changed the flight himself and there was no cancellation.
29 Jan – Phone broken, lap top broken. Report issued a week late
26 March-Received a letter at home which ‘concerns” him, can’t work on Monday (26) must sort it out
03 April – Plane cancelled again
05 April – Mother sick
10 April - Brothers stag party in Barcelona went wrong - appendix had to be removed.
26 April – Mother very very sick, also, a mate from Australia died, but really has a golf game planned for the next week with friends. (asked for a salary advance)
04 June – Arrested on car theft charges, claims his buddy got him into it

It was interesting that they used his services for so long, despite the build-up in evidence that he was a scoundrel!