Writting an Attendance Policy
LoriAnn
3 Posts
We are reviewing/rewritting our attendance policy.
I am in need of some different ideas on what some different companies were doing. I don't need specific names, just specific details of how some of you are administering your attendance.
If you have any ideas or a policy that seems to be working... or one you think is not working at all, let me know.
Thanks in advance... I've heard GREAT things about this website for help!!
Lori
Comments
However. whatever form your final policy on attendance and absence takes, you should bring into the concept at the appropriate point that too many absences are detrimental to the operations of the employer. That supervisors and managers should be aware not only of the number of absences or the pattern of absences, but the impact those absences are having on the job. Supervisors and managers need to document occasions when the employee is absent and what is occuring to his or her work -- is it getting done; is it being delayed; are clients or the public being served timely; are deadlines being met, especially those that may involve financial implications or legal implications; do other employees have to stop their work to do the absent employee's work; etc. It doesn't mean that each and every day that an employee is absent something has to occur, but enough problems should be occuring to exemplify the deleterious impact the "excessive absences" are having on the job. That's in part what makes them excessive.
And of course, the employee should be informed of the impact and be "put on notice" of consequences if absences continue in an acceptable rate.
None of the above takes into account FMLA, ADA and other absences that may have some protected status. My post is just to identify some basics to comment on when it comes to describing why an employee is being "documented" and then if necessary, discharged for excessive absences.
Further, I wouldn't put an employee on a PIP strictly for absence reasons. A PIP or Improvement Needed Plan with a specific time period would tend to let the employee off the hook once the time period is over. If the employee is goldbricking, I'm sure under the gun of a PIP, he or she would meet the goals for improved performance over a short period of time, usually 3 to 6 months.
What you want to do is to keep the employee's feet to the fire for a long period of time until management is truly satisfied the employee has learned the lesson of having satisfactory attendance. And of course don't suspend an employee simply on the basis that he or she needs to improve in attendance if that is the only issue.
However, if there are other peformance issues or conduct issues that are being addressed by a PIP or suspension that are concurrent with an excessive absence problem, then toss in the poor attendance in the PIP or suspension basis as well.
And keep the concept of excessive absence in the context of length of time on the job. I would certainly treat a one or two-year employee far differently and more sternly on excessive absences than I would a 10, 15, or 20-year employeee who hasn't had a history of poor attendance until the last year or so.
Good luck.
We nicely called all this to the attention of employees asking them to voluntarily "think" before they called in, realizing how it affected patient care, etc. No effect.
Because supervisors were screaming for a "policy", we put one in place. We now give employees 3 "unscheduled" calls offs per year. On the fourth one, the employee is also issued a "penalty" PTO day for excessive absenteeism. This is per incident, not per day. For example, if an employee has been out three days unscheduled and suddenly is out two days unscheduled, then only "one" day is a penalty day (plus the days off, of course).
The supervisors also agreed on this, along with employee input. Of course, after it was put into place, there was a lot of hooting and hollering and screaming and yelling, especially from people with children stating it wasn't fair, wasn't enough days, etc. We simply told them they needed to have back up child care in place as we could not make attendance exceptions for them without making exceptions for those without children. (The point is, everyone has an issue or a problem or even a bad year sometimes).
At any rate, it has put the brakes on unscheduled absences. Is it perfect. No. No policy is perfect and it always ends up hurting innocent people while trying to control the bad apples. Do I wish we could operate without such a policy? You bet! But, unfortunately, in our medical environment, we have to have a certain amount of staffing to ensure quality patient care and something had to be done.
(Again, all this does not include the FMLA, ADA issues, etc.)
Good luck. Attendance policies are a real bear!
Here it is:
We need a reliable work force to operate our business efficiently. When an employee is absent or tardy, even for a valid reason, it places an extra burden on other employees, work scheduling, etc., and could reduce the quality of our services. Employees are expected to be ready to begin work at the assigned starting time. You are also expected to remain on the job and in your department during working hours. Remember that tardy is defined as one or more minutes late to work, and leave early is defined as leaving one or more minutes early. If you have to leave your job or department for any reason, you must receive permission from your Supervisor. Your attendance record is part of your total work record. It is reviewed when you are being considered for a raise or promotion, and it can affect your future employment with this Company.
If you have to be absent from work due to illness or other emergency, you must personally notify the company as soon as possible, before your shift begins or during the first hour of your shift. If you are calling when the office is closed and you get the automated voice message, dial 154 to speak to the Plant Manager or to leave a message. You may also leave a message on the main voice mail. Any employee who is absent without notice for three consecutive days will be terminated unless there is reasonable justification.
Whenever possible, absences must be pre-arranged and approved in advance. We know that some absences are unavoidable but remember that our successful operation depends on your daily presence. Employees with a history of poor attendance will be terminated. The attendance policy is based on a point system. One day absent (not coming in to work all day) counts as one point. A tardy or a leave early (coming in at least one minute late or leaving at least one minute early) is counted as one half of one point unless prior approval by the supervisor is obtained. If you have points and go 30 days without obtaining another point, one point will drop off your total. This total is a rolling total; in other words, you do not get a clean slate each year. The following point system will apply:
At this many points: You will get this:
3 points Verbal Warning
5 points Written Warning
7 points Written Warning
9 points Termination
An attendance warning does not count as one of the warnings in the Disciplinary Policy, although they may be considered when giving reviews and pay increases.
Written justification can be made to keep an employee who attains nine points. Written justification must be made by the Plant Manager and approved by the Human Resources Manager and President.
[Attendance: Reporting Illness or Injury
Each job is important-otherwise it would not exist. Therefore, employees are expected to be punctual and to keep absences to a minimum. It is the employee's responsibility to contact his/her supervisor and the Attendance Assistant, as soon as possible when she/he is absent due to illness or injury. If illness or injury is so severe that the employee is unable to contact the supervisor, someone else should call the board. Failure to notify the board of an absence of three or more days is considered automatic resignation by the employee, unless he/she can prove such notification. Illness incurred during vacation or other leave will be charged to sick leave.]
Note:
-We apply honor system, no time clock. We have 36 employees, non-profit agency.
-Non-exempt employees have to submit a a timesheet every two weeks signed by both employees and their supervisors.
-By the 10th day of each month, all employees must submit a "Monthly Attendance Report" signed by the supervisor to the Attendance Assistant (also the Boss's administrative assistant). Employees who are late in submitting their Attendance Report receive a notification letter (copy furnished to supervisor and HR).
Eva
Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]
Our policy is based on a "point" system and any absence from work for more than 4 hours results in an employee receiving 2 points. Anything less than 4 hours is 1 point. An employee is required to call in within one hour of the start of the shift and if they do not, they receive 4 points. We do have a short list of times an ee can be absent w/o getting points: FMLA, W/C, approved leave of absence, funeral, jury duty, and weather (this decision is made by management). Our policy is based on a "rolling" year.
At 8 points and ee receives a verbal written warning, at 10 they receive a formal written warning, at 12 they receive a 3-day suspension and at 14 they are terminated.
The policy used to state that any absence more than 2 hours would result in 2 points but management wanted to change that in the hopes that employees would manage their time better and would be less likely to take an entire day off if they only needed a few hours. We changed it to the 4 hours in January and as you can imagine, it is coming back to bite us so we are looking at changing it back to the 4 hours. That's what you get, I guess, when you want to treat the employees as adults!