Attendance Policies

Needless to say, a company cant operate (let alone succeed) if the employees arent showing up
to work. But how do you ensure that your workforce will consistently report for duty? One good
step is having a clear attendance policy. Communicating clearly about what are acceptable
reasons to miss work, how these requests should be made, and what does not qualify as an
excusable absence can prevent a lot of confusion and make employees more accountable. The
key to communicating these guidelines is a well-written and enforced No-Fault Attendance
policy. This kind of policy may even boost employee morale by minimizing resentment on the
part of some employees toward coworkers who suffer no consequences for being chronically
absent.

Here is a deeper look at what such a policy should cover.

General tone

An attendance policy should be strict enough to allow the employer to discipline those
employees whose absences cause problems, yet flexible enough that the employer does not have
to terminate good employees who are absent infrequently.

Multiple policies

It is also acceptable to have different policies for different departments, as the needs for the staff
to be present on a daily basis and shift lengths may differ.

Morale

Rewarding employees for good attendance is good for employee morale and ultimately may
improve overall attendance.

Interaction with unemployment compensation

A reasonable and enforced policy is a good defense against unemployment compensation claims
if an employer can prove that the employee failed to abide by the published attendance policy.
Such a policy is a good defense to an unemployment compensation claim by an employee
terminated for excessive absenteeism as it allows the employer to show that the employee
violated the uniformly enforced policy and was discharged for doing so. Again, to be effective,
the policy must be reasonable, uniformly enforced, and in writing.

Disabilities and attendance

In addition, a well-written and uniformly enforced attendance policy may avoid liability under
the ADA to job applicants or employees whose disabilities prevent regular and consistent
attendance. The employers reasonable attendance standards may be deemed an essential
function of the job, which may not have to be relaxed as part of a reasonable accommodation if
attendance is required to perform the position and the attendance standards are spelled out in
advance and uniformly and consistently applied.

Family and medical leave absences

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has made enforcing absentee policies more difficult
for larger employers by prohibiting covered employers from disciplining or discharging an
eligible employee for an absence caused by a protected reason, including a serious health
condition of the employee or a member of his or her family. The FMLA does impose certain
requirements upon employees with respect to eligibility for leave including notice to the
employer and medical certification, and employers should be mindful of enforcing attendance
policies in situations that involve FMLA leave.

Below is an example of an attendance policy that uses a point system for employee absences that
you can customize to fit your needs.

SAMPLE ATTENDANCE POLICY

You are hired to perform an important function at ABC Company. As with any group effort, it
takes cooperation and commitment from everyone to operate effectively.

Therefore, your attendance and punctuality are very important. Absences cause a slow-down in
the work and added burdens for your fellow employees. Good attendance is something that is
expected from all employees. You should be at your work station by the start of each workday at
the time designated by the department. Excessive absenteeism or tardiness will not be tolerated
and will be cause for disciplinary action up to and including discharge.

We do realize, however, that there are times when absences and tardiness cannot be avoided.
This is why we have a no-fault system that allows you to accumulate some points before any
disciplinary action will be taken against you. It is expected that everyone will accumulate some
points under this system. It is only when points become excessive, and warnings are issued, that
an employee need be concerned about his or her attendance practices.

Regardless of the reason for your absence, you are expected to properly notify your supervisor
on duty at least one hour in advance of your scheduled work time. Leaving a message does not
qualify as notifying your supervisor. You must personally contact your supervisor. Lack of a
telephone or absence from town is not an excuse for failing to notify your supervisor of absence
or tardiness. You should call every day that you are absent unless you are on an approved leave
of absence. Unreported and unexcused absences of two consecutive work days will be
considered a voluntary resignation of employment with the Company.

Each employees absenteeism and tardiness records are kept on file with the Human Resources
Department. The absenteeism and tardiness records are kept on a point system basis. Depending
upon the nature of the absence, a certain number of points are accumulated by an employee on
his or her absence record. When an employee reaches various point totals, certain notice and
disciplinary actions will be taken. An employee may receive a written notice, a written warning,
a final written warning, or may be discharged depending upon the number of points he or she
accumulates.

The point system is based upon the progressive past 12 calendar months. Any employee who
accumulates 24 or more points in a 12 calendar month period under this system will be
discharged. On the first day of each calendar month, points accumulated during that same month
one year prior will be removed from the employees record for purposes of this policy.

If an employee accumulates only three points or less during any progressive 12 calendar month
period, he or she will receive one day off with pay. Upon earning a day off with pay, the
employee will begin a new 12-month period for purposes of earning another day off under this
program. Absences from work will accumulate points in the following manner:

If your absence is due to illness or injury, you may be required to provide a doctors report
supporting the necessity of your absence, as well as your ability to return to your work, within 15
calendar days after the absence or tardiness. If your absence is the result of personal emergency
other than illness or injury, documentation supporting your absence may be required.

No Points

1. Off work due to a work-related injury with medical verification that the employee is
unable to work.

2. Off work due to jury duty, military leave, medical leave, FMLA leave, lack of work,
subpoenas, or any other absence expressly authorized by the Company, the terms of Company
policy, or the law.

3. Off work because of adverse weather conditions resulting in the closing of schools and/or
roads in this or the surrounding counties by the local authorities.

4. Off work due to an accident in which you are involved coming to work and which you can
verify through police records or other satisfactory evidence. Car trouble is not excused.

One-half (1/2) Point

1. Leaving work early because of a proven emergency.

One (1) Point

1. Late to work by 18 minutes or less for any reason not excused above.

2. Leaving work two hours or less before the end of your scheduled work time for any
reason not excused above after notifying your supervisor.

Two (2) Points

1. Late to work by more than 18 minutes for any reason not excused above.
 2. Leaving work more than two hours before the end of your scheduled workweek for any
reason not excused above after notifying your supervisor.

Three (3) Points

1. Absence for any reason not excused above with proper call-in.

Twelve (12) Points

1. Absence for any reason not excused above without proper call-in.

The accumulation of the following number of points will result in the following action being
taken by the Company:

12 Points: A written notice that the employee has accumulated 12 or more points.

16 Points: A written warning to the employee.

20 Points: A final written warning to the employee.

24 Points: The employee will be discharged.

EXAMPLE:

Employee is late on one occasion by 30 minutes, leaves work 1 hour early on another occasion,
and has three properly reported absences that are not excused.

2 points + 1 point + 9 points = 12 points = Written Notice

The Company will not notify the employees that through the passage of time they have lost
points. However, each time an employee accumulates enough points to trigger a notice or
warning, the employee will receive such notice or warning. For example, if an employee
accumulates 12 points and receives a written notice of such points and then subsequently drops,
through the passage of time, to 10 points, the employee will be reissued a written notice again
upon the re-accumulation of 12 points. Employees also may check with the Human Resources
Department at any time to determine their point status.

The Company also reserves the right to impose discipline, up to and including discharge, for
excessive excused absences or tardiness.

https://hrsimple.com/blog/attendance
502 - Attendance (Absenteeism, Tardiness and Job Abandonment)

Subject: Attendance (Absenteeism, Tardiness & Job Abandonment)

Section: U502

Date: October, 2016

PURPOSE:

It is vital to the University for all employees to have reliable attendance.

Absenteeism and tardiness negatively impact our ability to effectively
provide University services. The purpose of this policy is to establish the
requirements for reporting absences, to provide guidelines for the handling
of tardiness, early departures, and unscheduled absences, and to outline
employees' need to adhere to established work schedules to maintain
efficient, effective operations throughout the University.

DEFINTIONS:

Term Definition

No call/no An unscheduled absence without proper notification

show to the employee's supervisor or department.

Pattern Unscheduled absences the day before or after a

Absences scheduled holiday, vacation, or personal day; on a
desirable day off, a specific day of the week, or a
weekend; a specific or unique work day; or as sick
leave or other paid time off is accrued.

Scheduled A scheduled absence occurs when an employee

Absence requests and is approved to take time off
in accordance with department and University
policies and applicable union contract. Some
examples of scheduled absences include approved
vacation, personal holidays, jury duty, military
 related, bereavement leave, FMLA leave, and Short-
Term Disability leave.

Tardy Failure to report to an employee's assigned work area

and be prepared to start work at his or her scheduled
start time, including returning from breaks and meal
periods.

Unschedule Failure to report to work on a scheduled workday or

d Absence working less than half of a scheduled workday due to
tardiness or leaving early without a written and
approved time off request. Absences on consecutive
workdays for the same reason will count as one
unscheduled absence under this policy. Some
examples of unscheduled absences include absences
due to car trouble, caring for a family member who
has the flu, and home emergency.

Unschedule Failure to work a complete workday due to an early

d Early departure without a written and approved time off
Departure request. Please refer to Unscheduled Absence above
when an early departure results in working less than
half of a scheduled workday.

POLICY:

Staff employees must arrive and be prepared to commence work at their

scheduled start time. Employees are responsible for notifying supervision of
absences, late arrivals, or early departures each day of the
absence, tardiness, or early departure, in accordance with their units call-in
procedure, which typically requires employees to advise supervision when
they will report to work. Unscheduled absences, tardiness, and unscheduled
early departures (whether excused or unexcused), failure to provide
appropriate notification, or abuse of sick leave or other paid time off may
result in corrective action up to and including termination of employment.
(See Policy U208-Termination of Employment) Absences, tardiness, and
early departures due to approved FMLA leave, Short-Term Disability leave,
military leave, jury duty, workers compensation, other approved leave, or
reasonable accommodation as required by law will not be counted as
occurrences. These guidelines apply to all staff employees whose
departments do not have more specific guidelines, or when department
attendance guidelines do not address certain areas covered by this policy.

PROCEDURES:

1. Departments should communicate to staff employees the importance of

timely and regular attendance and develop a written unit guideline that
outlines a call-in procedure. The call-in procedure should define when and
whom an employee should call if he/she is going to be absent or tardy. It
should also address a time frame when an employee who will be delayed is
required to notify supervision.

2. Time approvers are responsible for reviewing and approving time before
each time approval deadline. It is the responsibility of the time approver to
ensure the time submission is accurate.

3. Notification of any unscheduled absence, tardiness, or unscheduled early

departure must be made as far in advance as possible. An employee who will
be unable to report to work as scheduled, tardy, or leaving early must
contact his/her supervisor or the departments designated call-in number as
far in advance as possible and at the latest prior to the start of the shift or
the departure. Notification and acknowledgment of tardiness, unscheduled
early departure, or unscheduled absence will not excuse it.

4. Employees must record attendance and absences in UChicago Time or in

the applicable attendance tracking records used by the Department.
Immediate supervisors are responsible for reviewing and verifying
attendance records (at least monthly) and recording occurrences, if
applicable, to ensure the accuracy of the records and consistent application
of department attendance guidelines and University policy.

5. An unscheduled absence will be recorded as one (1) occurrence. Each

tardy or unscheduled early departure will be recorded as one-half (1/2) an
occurrence. No occurrences will be recorded for scheduled absences or use
of accrued sick leave as provided under University and department policy
 and union contract, if applicable. However, pattern usage, failure to provide
timely notification, or failure to comply with the Sick Leave Policy may result
in absences being counted as unscheduled absences.

6. Occurrences will be tracked by each department based on a rolling twelve

(12) month period.

7. Supervisors of employees should follow the corrective action guidelines

described below to address unscheduled absences, tardiness, and
unscheduled early departures. Upon four occurrences, each two occurrences
thereafter will advance the corrective action process, up to and including
termination of employment. However, depending on the
situation, corrective action may be accelerated, repeated, or taken out of
sequence, and the University reserves the right to effect immediate
termination should it be warranted.

Verbal warning upon four (4) occurrences.

Written warning upon six (6) occurrences.
Final warning or suspension upon eight (8) occurrences.
Termination of employment upon ten (10) occurrences.
Employees will be subject to immediate corrective action for no call/no
show. Two (2) or more consecutive workdays of no call/no show will be
considered job abandonment and result in termination of employment.

Supervisors should be observant and identify pattern absences. Employees

will be subject to immediate corrective action for pattern unscheduled
absences. An employee should receive written notice of a pattern
unscheduled absence including a description of the pattern from the
employees supervisor or the Human Resource Administrator for the
department.

8. Typically, employees who work for six (6) months without an occurrence
since the last occurrence resulting in corrective action will not have the
corrective action process progress to the next level. For example, if an
employee receives a written warning due to the sixth occurrence on October
1st and receives two additional occurrences in the following June, the
employee should receive another written warning.
9. Bi-weekly employees will not be compensated for time lost due to
tardiness. However, an employee who is late six minutes or less is
considered tardy but will be paid for the time. Tardiness of more than six (6)
minutes will be unpaid. Meal periods and breaks may not be used to cover
for absences or tardiness. An employee may not extend the normal workday
or work beyond his/her scheduled shift to make up for being tardy without
the prior approval of the employees supervisor.

10. An unscheduled absence typically is unpaid unless an employees

supervisor approves the use of accrued vacation, sick leave, or personal
holiday time in accordance with University policy and appropriate union
contract, if applicable. Acceptable means of verifying the reason for the
unscheduled absence may be required. An employee will not be
compensated for unscheduled absences that extend beyond his/her accrual
balances.
11. Requests for scheduled absences, including jury duty, emergency time
off (vacation or personal holiday), bereavement, military
leave, medical leave, and personal leave must be requested as far in
advance as possible consistent with University and department policy and
applicable union contract and law. It is the employees responsibility to
request leave or excused time off and to submit appropriate documentation.
Employees, who will be unable to report to work as scheduled (except for a
University preapproved block of leave time) or using intermittent FMLA leave
or other leave are required to contact their supervisor or the department
each day unless otherwise instructed by their supervisor. Denied leave or
other requested time off, failure to return to work after an approved leave,
or failure to comply with these guidelines or other applicable University
policy may result in the treatment of time away from work as an
unscheduled absence, tardiness, or unscheduled early departure under this
policy.
12. Employees absent three (3) or more consecutive days due to illness or
who are suspected of abuse of sick leave may be required to submit a proof
of illness certificate issued by a health care provider and identifying when
the employee was seen and treated. Failure to submit such proof upon
request shall automatically disqualify the employee for sick leave pay and
will result in the absences being counted as unscheduled absences.
 13. Employees who are eligible to use paid sick leave may use accrued sick
time for routine doctors appointments. The employee must notify the
supervisor in advance of the appointment, and may be required to submit
proof that the time taken was used for the appointment. When possible,
such appointments should be scheduled at the beginning or the end of the
shift.

14. Due to the nature of the services that employees provide we are rarely
able to close our operations. With that in mind, employees are expected to
report for work on severe weather days and to plan ahead to anticipate any
difficulties that might be encountered. If an employee will be late or unable
to report to work, the employee must notify his or her supervisor as soon as
possible. The departments will decide whether employees will receive
occurrences for tardiness or unscheduled absences on severe weather days.

Employees represented by a union may be governed by the

appropriate bargaining unit agreement.

http://humanresources.uchicago.edu/fpg/policies/500/p502.shtml

Absenteeism and Attendance of Employees

Employee absenteeism is one of the most common workplace problems facing
employers in todays workplace. Legitimate illnesses still account for the majority of
employee absences, but some studies have shown that less than one-third of absences
from the workplace are related to poor health. Most employers offer their workers
vacation, sick leave, paid time off, or other kinds of paid and unpaid leave.
Mastering HR Report: Absenteeism

Articles on Employee Absenteeism and Attendance from HR Hero Line

Search the Employers Forum for threads on Employee Absenteeism and
Attendance
What's your HR IQ on attendance policies and medical leave?

Federal and state employment laws regarding employee leave

Four federal laws critical to employee absenteeism issues are: the Family and Medical
Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 (Title VII).
In addition to federal laws, almost all states have workers compensation laws that
cover on-the-job illnesses and injuries. Most state workers compensation laws protect
workers who must take time off from work because of their injuries. Some states even
have their own laws regarding family and medical leave.
Employers should be careful how they deal with absenteeism by exempt employees.
Dont dock an exempt employees paycheck for missing less than one full day of work
because it could destroy her exemption and entitle her to time-and-a-half for
all overtime she has worked in the past or works in the future. The only exception is if
the absence is covered by the FMLA.
Two other attendance issues protected by law are employees called to jury duty and
employees who request time off for religious reasons. State and federal laws generally
require employers to give workers leave when called to serve on a jury. And employers
may have to bend their attendance rules to accommodate a workers religious
practices or beliefs.
State-by-state comparison of 50 employment laws in all 50 states, including employee
leave laws
Reducing employee absenteeism and abuse of employee leave policies
One of the most frustrating parts of administering attendance policies for employers is
the incredible amount of abuse that takes place. A key to curbing abuse is to have an
absenteeism policy that clearly sets forth which absences are allowed, and what
behavior will subject the employee to discipline. Absenteeism problems can range from
employees not calling in or not showing up for their shifts, taking sick leave when well,
and exhausting their available leave every month, to requesting extra time off and
establishing patterns of abuse. For these non-protected absences employers can, and
should, discipline their employees.
A companys policy should be clearly written and disseminated to all employees. In
addition, the employer should make sure to train all supervisors and managers to
ensure that the policy is being fairly applied. Its a good idea to spot check attendance
issues in every department to make sure that company rules are being fairly imposed.
Audit your workplace policies and procedures, including employee leave with
the Employment Practices Self-Audit Workbook

http://topics.hrhero.com/absenteeism-and-attendance/#