Absentee/Tardiness Problem

Frenchie · February 2002

We have a tardiness policy that states that any employee who is tardy more than three times in any rolling 30 day period is in violation of policy and subject to discipline. We have an associate who is frequently late(he has been counseled on this)but manages to not violate policy,i.e., the fourth occurrence will be on day 32 or 33. We have the same situation with his absenteeism. Technically he is not in violation of policy, however I would like to take some action to put a stop to this. Any suggestions?

js · February 2002

Specify in your attendance policy that even if a person is not in violation of the monthly attendance policy, that management can discipline for attendance patterns or issues that are deemed excessive.

You may also consider specifying a longer period, such as 9 tardies in a quarter instead of 3 in a month. It is harder for an abuser to keep up with the longer period.

Gar · February 2002

Ordinarily I'd agree with Js' solution. The question you should ask yourself is: Is it logical to rewrite the policy simply because one guy knows how to work the system? After all, technically, he hasn't violated it. Frankly, I'd be inclined to wait until more employees started doing it before reaching for my ink pen.

Ruskanen · February 2002

Our attendance policy is generous but we do have the disclaimer of, "Consistent unscheduled absences of a repetitive nature with the intent to abuse are not allowed (e.g. Consistently absent on Fridays or Mondays). Employees with excessive unscheduled, undocumented absences will be disciplined up to and including termination." It is difficult to penalize someone for using the time that we give them to use for their absences, but by asking them to schedule and bring documentation it gives you a leg to stand on if you need to discipline someone. I think you could discipline by saying to the employee, "Look, you are reaching the limit every month and that is taking advantage of the attendance policy we have in place. It is unacceptable and we expect it to improve." You could also ask if there is a ligitimate reason why the employee is gone (personal problems, medical problems) and recommend an EAP if you have one or ask for medical documentation.

System · February 2002

Speaking as someone who will be late to my own funeral, I don't like your policy. It seems to give employees permission to be late three times a month. I'd rather give supervisors more discretion.

Meanwhile, does the employee get to make up the time when he's late? That would also encourage tardiness. I hope his supervisor notes the tardies on his annual evaluation -- it shows poor work habits and attitude.

The super may have other ways to encourage timeliness. I have a flexible schedule, but my boss schedules the weekly department meeting at an ungodly hour of the morning (9:00). So my boss knows I'll be here by the crack of 9. xx(

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Mutagawa · February 2002

In general, I think a rolling 30-day period is too short to effectively track attendance. You may consider changing it to a rolling 6 months or 12 months, and also add a disclaimer that employees can be disciplined if a pattern of abuse of the policy is identified.

Frenchie · February 2002

Thanks to everyone who responded. We are going to make a revision to our policy that will provide us with the opportunity to address abuse situations. When this associate was counseled previously, we offered to change his schedule so that he could come in later in the morning. We also encouraged him to contact the EAP if he had problems that were affecting his ability to come to work. He told us that wouldn't be necessary. We are now going to change his schedule to 8-5 (currently 5-2). Due to this change, he will not be able to run routes which pays more than the warehouse work, however our position is that if we can't rely on him to be here on time for warehouse work then he can't be relied upon to be here on time to run a route. Hopefully, this will correct the abuse.

Absentee/Tardiness Problem

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