Bomb threats and other reasons for not going to work

The (Manitowoc WI) Herald Times Reporter newspaper reported that Antonio Booker called in bomb threats Orion Energy Systems, where he was a temporary worker, causing an evacuation. Booker told police after his arrest on Monday that he made the threats for fear he would lose his job if he called in sick again.

Booker isn't the only worker to have called in a bomb threat to his employer as of late.

The (Lexington NC) Dispatch reported a worker made bomb threats on Oct. 7 and Oct. 27 to the company where he was temporarily employed. Another man was arrested Nov. 16 after allegedly writing a bomb threat on the bathroom wall at his employer, a Wal-Mart in Salina KS, the Salina (KS) Journal reported. Both men were arrested, although the reasons for their threats were not reported.

Bomb threats are pretty extreme, but in a related story, CareerBuilder.com on Oct. 22 released results of a survey regarding unusual employee excuses for missing work. Some of those excuses included:

-Employee didn't want to lose the parking space in front of his house.
-Employee donated too much blood.
-Employee's wife burned all his clothes and he had nothing to wear to work.
-Employee's toe was injured when a soda can fell out of the refrigerator.
-Employee was kicked by a deer.
-Employee's psychic told her to stay home.

Trying to determine what a worker is thinking at times can be difficult - especially with the bomb threats and psychic readings. As for temporary workers, Staffing Industry Analysts is in the planning stages of a temporary workers survey.