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News
May the Boss be with you
May 4, 1999: 4:53 p.m. ET

Report warns of mass absenteeism as workers take off for "Star Wars" debut
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - If you're planning to skip work to catch the premier of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace," be careful who you sit next to: it just might be your boss.
     A new report released Tuesday warns that the Force -- as in "work force" -- may not be with employers on May 19, the day the hyper-hyped film is scheduled to open.
     The international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said the opening day could result in the most widespread planned absenteeism in the country's history as fans descend upon theaters like throngs of maddened Ewoks.
    
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"Yoda said I could go."

     The firm said the potential price tag for making Wookie on opening day could reach a Jabba the Hutt-sized $293 million in a single day of lost wages.
     The company also said an estimated 2.2 million full-time employees -- or roughly the population of Utah -- could skip work to see "The Phantom Menace" premier.
    
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"Where were you yesterday?"

     For all you intergalactic stat freaks -- and we know you're out there -- this group of fans would have about 1 million more bodies than the active personnel in all branches of the armed services and more than the combined visitor attendance for the White House and Graceland in 1998.
     The $293 million figure does not include the $93.2 million typically lost due to average daily absenteeism of 700,000 full-time workers.
     Of course, with all these defections, bosses could go over to the dark side and come down on their workers like Darth Vader on a bad helmet day.
     So how do you calm down a raging supervisor bent on slicing your career with a light saber?
     Use the force, Luke, use the force…Back to top
     -- by staff writer Rob Lenihan

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.