Excessive absenteeism due to home repairs

Ms_Shepard · January 2003

Hi All,

We have an employee who has many unscheduled absences concerning her house, i.e. furnace repair, plumbing repair, etc. Is it appropriate to ask her for copies of these repair invoices to prove this is why she is out? We tend not to believe her since these unscheduled absences happen on the days her boss is taking a day of leave.

Parabeagle · January 2003

If it is your policy to ask employees to document why they were absent, I don't see why you couldn't ask for an invoice or some other evidence. You would ask for a doctor's note if it was warranted, I'm sure. You'd ask for a copy of orders for a military reservist being deployed. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't ask for documentaiton.

RoseF · January 2003

You should have an attendance policy in place that clearly states how many scheduled (requested and approved in advance) paid days off an ee can have in a specified time frame (6 months, year, etc) and exactly how many unplanned absences, paid or not, are allowed before counseling and possible reprimand.

You might want to remind this ee that if she uses up all her time off for things like this, she may not have any left for vacations or anything else. Remind her of your absence policy and show her if she is getting close to reprimand land due to excessive absences.

We frequently need to remind our ee's and managers that an absence is not a bad thing, it is just a fact: the employee was not at work....it is the frequency of absences that can be the problem.

We allow up to 6 unplanned, not pre-approved occassions of absence in a 6 month period. At the 6th there is a counseling session. Sometimes the ee is just not aware of how often "things come up". With the 7th, there is a written reprimand.

An absence is any day scheduled to be worked that is not, whether due to broken dryer, unreliable car, illness, dog having puppies in the drive way....whatever. The issue is that these rarities should be just that, RARE. Murphy's Law is not the rule of the day

Even if the day is taken as a paid day off, the fact that co-workers and managers were not given the opportunity to prepare for that ee's absence makes it different than a pre-planned day off.

Don D · January 2003

The underlying reasons for her absence don't seem relevant if she's allowed absences under your policy. What if she were to produce the receipts....how would that affect your decision? And if she has a leaky roof that often and you allow her to tend to those problems outside the attendance policy, what signals might you be sending to the workforce. Given the facts you cite, have you considered that her boss may be tending to her plumbing on those days when they are both away from the office? Unless you have a policy that says the company must approve of reasons for absences before they will be allowed, I don't see any need to question the reasons she gives. If her absences approach or exceed the limits of your attendance policy, discipline is called for, regardless of the reasons she gives for those absences, unless they're medically related.

Gillian · January 2003

Given Don's observation about both being gone at the same time, perhaps the boss has given her permission to be absent for the leaky roof, in which case disciplinary action is not appropriate at all. You could ask, or maybe not. If there is a problem like this it will explode later.

Parabeagle · January 2003

Well THAT sure puts a different spin on things. Hadn't thought of that, although I must admit it makes sense.

Gillian · January 2003

Scary, isn't it. Ms. Shepard asked a simple question and now we are going to make her stay awake all night thinking about the possibilities.

Ms_Shepard · January 2003

Yep. Spent last night wide awake in bed going over all of the policy issues with this.

Thanks for the input!

Hunter1 · January 2003

"Tending to her plumbing"???? Does this belong in the humor section? What insight, maybe your best yet, Don.

Don D · January 2003

Surely that wasn't my best yet. Hunter, you're pretty new aren't you? I must have a better one way back. But, back to Gillian's observation; as Ms Shepherd surely knows, every HR person worth his/her salt stays awake at least one night a week worrying about how to save the company a half-mil. x:-)

Balloonman · January 2003

Don, you are very astute in acknowledging that those "plumbing" relationships can be.......... hhhmmmmm devastating if you think that they do not matter when applying policy to the individual.
I know of an HR professional, #2 at his company at the time who was preparing downsizing plans. He knew his boss was having an affair with his assistant. However ignored this while developing the plan, and in the downsizing had her scheduled to be eliminated.
He turned this outline in to his boss who approved it with just one change. He kept his assistant, who was taking care of his plumbing and let go the #2 guy instead.
He told me about this, and his in hindsight foolishness at thinking that it would not matter. Something we should all keep in mind. No need to discuss how inappropriate the relationship was, even in the later 80's early 90's.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Don D · January 2003

An old Indian man once told me, "Boy, foolish person hire plumber. Wise person understand spouse know plumbing best." There are all kinds of truth in that.

Rockie · January 2003

DJ is not short for Don, Jr. is it?

Don D · January 2003

No ma'am, and I don't trust people who play with balloons. He needs to explain that and I'm sure he will momentarily!

Terri B · January 2003

Rose F has it right. This sounds like a strong case for a PTO prgram with a no fault attendance policy. Scheduled vs. unscheduled is all that matters. The reason isn't important. When it's unscheduled they are required to use the PTO.

Excessive absenteeism due to home repairs

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