EMPLOYEE ABSENCE AND TARDINESS
Updated: April 2008

Employee absenteeism and tardiness are major "start-of-the-workday" problems for supervisors and managers.

Some companies have formal policies aimed at controlling absenteeism and tardiness.

To make sure these controls actually work, they must be communicated to employees -- they must know what your attendance standards are and how their attendance records will affect their advancement, performance ratings, discipline and future employment.

As with most workplace rules, a positive approach usually works better than a negative one. The first steps to control absenteeism and tardiness should be:

Holding a work-unit or department-wide competition and awarding a small bonus to the group with the best attendance record for a month or quarter.

Use attendance records as a factor in granting promotions and salary increases.

Giving an attendance award (small amounts of cash, extra leave, or recognition at a special company function or occasion) to employees who meet certain attendance standards.

Establishing a sick leave program that does not pay employees for the first (1-3) days of illness -- this tends to discourage short absences (especially around holidays the company does not observe).

Pay for all unused sick leave time at year-end or when the employee leaves the company (regardless of the circumstances for the departure). Get this time off your books and close the record. This is a good rule on vacation or other paid time off.

Allow employees to carry-over sick leave from year to year (but for no more than 3 years) or convert it to vacation or personal days.

Many times when an employee calls in sick, they are not really not ill, they are just taking a "personal day" off. You should consider the concept of "personal days" -- give employees 2-4 "personal days" after they’ve been on the job for 3 years -- they can use the time for personal business, bereavement, whatever.

More and more employers are starting to use "personal days" exclusively. Under these plans, each employee receives a number of personal days, rather than sick days, each year. Employees may take personal days at any time, for any reason (with proper notice where possible). This policy can improve employee morale. Employees do not have to lie, and they do not feel patronized.

You must establish clear standards for attendance and you must set steps for discipline when your policy is abused, starting with something like this:

SAMPLE ABSENCE AND TARDINESS POLICY

An employee who is absent or tardy twice during a single pay period will be given a verbal warning and the supervisor will write a report about the verbal warning that will be forwarded to (executive title) and placed in a company record.

An employee who is absent or tardy within a 15 day period after the verbal warning will receive a written warning and the supervisor will forward a copy of the written warning to (executive title) and placed in a company record.

An employee who is absent or tardy within a 15 day period after the written warning will be suspended without pay for 3 to 5 days. The supervisor will consult with (executive title) to determine the length of the suspension, and whether the employee should be returned to "introductory" status or terminated after the suspension.

The supervisor of any employee who is absent or tardy within a 30 day period after suspension will give (executive title) a notice of the absence or tardiness. (Executive title) will be responsible for decisions on all terminations.

Employers should carefully monitor any attendance policy that is put in place -- adherence to a strict attendance policy may be unlawful failing to give an employee time off would be a reasonable accommodation for a disability covered by the ADA.

Too much management time is spent on problems related to attendance and too many managers tend to be casual about it. That won't work. You need a plan. Here are things that actually encourage poor attendance:

-- Antiquated leave policies under which employees lose unused leave. Junk the old "use-or-lose" rule. (Develop a system where leave accounts are zeroed-out [and paid at current pay rates] on anniversary dates or at least every 12 months.)

-- New employee awareness of the FMLA (especially hard-to-track intermittent FMLA);

-- "Flex scheduling" that makes it hard to see who is late and who is missing;

-- An increase in telecommuting that trusts the employee to manage and report time;

-- Culture clash, in which the younger generation is more casual about attendance.

Here are suggestions for getting a handle on time and attendance:

1. Assemble your own "attendance bible." This record should contain a copy of everything related to attendance, including policies, SOPs, forms, union contract clauses, and so on. (And become familiar with all the provisions -- and penalties.)

2. Establish clear expectations. Typically, that would include everyone involved following all policies, practices and principles:

-- It is the employee's responsibility to request leave and provide documentation for time needed;

-- It is the manager's responsibility (not the timekeeper's) to grant leave.

3. Follow certain absolutes. When you adhere to certain absolute rules, you can manage problems more easily.

Here are the rules:

-- Everyone who misses work and does not call in gets a piece of paper ...it might be just a reminder or a disciplinary warning.

-- Leave requests must be in writing and submitted in advance.

-- Medical absence of more than 3 days requires medical documentation.

-- Let the employee know of your concern and remind the employee of their responsibility. If the abuse continues, take disciplinary action. (If you don't, morale will suffer because regular attendees will tire of pulling the weight for the slacker.)

-- Maintain confidentiality. Don't discuss individual attendance issues except with your boss and the employee.

4. Apply rules consistently. It is important to give consistent treatment to all employees. (More and more today, that means consistent process, not necessarily the exact same treatment.)

5. Keep records of leave requests. Without a record, it's hard to track abuse.

6. Document leave problems and share tem with with the employee. Don't keep secret records.

7. Act promptly, properly, and decisively to solve problems. A delay suggests that you condone the behavior.

8. Follow up. Stay on top of attendance issues. It's so easy to "hope they will get better." They won't.

There are some FMLA implications to consider when dealing with absenteeism -- handle this stuff with great care.