As an employer, you will inevitably encounter instances of employees arriving late or missing entire days of work for a variety of reasons ranging from medical appointments to vacations, unforeseen circumstances, or even traffic. This can significantly disrupt your daily operations. By implementing an attendance policy, you can underscore the importance of accountability, boost productivity, and effectively curb absenteeism, thereby maintaining a smooth workflow.
In the following article, we will explore the importance of attendance policies, their positive impact on your organization, and how to tailor one to your business. We will also provide practical guidance on what to include in your policy, share some tried-and-true strategies, and offer a valuable free template to use as a starting point for your policy.
An attendance policy is a company’s set of rules that defines every expectation regarding absences, vacations, tardiness, no-call-no-shows, and related matters. Usually, this policy also describes a discipline policy for attendance infractions.
Typically, the HR department develops and enforces an attendance policy that is part of the employee handbook. This policy is a great way to promote individual accountability for your employees and speaks to the transparency in your organization.
Without having an attendance policy, your organization can be up against various attendance issues, such as:
Implementing an attendance policy can bring about a host of advantages for your organization:
An attendance policy is crucial for your business to function properly as time passes and more people join your company. Here are some tips for implementing and using your attendance policy.
Attendance and how you handle it are part of your company culture. If your employees have made a habit of getting to work late, changing perspectives and behaviors may take a while.
As a first step, discuss with the managers how they handle tardiness, short notice leaves, and absences. They should all be on the same page to create a transparent environment and a standardized approach.
Other factors may be taken into consideration. For example, if you have employees who are students, flexibility should be considered, the same with employees who are parents. People with chronic diseases may need to work from home.
Don’t aim to create a policy that covers every possible scenario of absence, it is impossible. Instead, stick to the more popular instances of absence and explain the expectations and consequences in simple terms.
Here are some examples of attendance issues:
Creating clear categories of absences will help employees understand what’s expected of them and is useful as proof of transparency.
Remember to pay attention to the less desirable part, the disciplinary actions. An attendance policy should also describe the consequences of noncompliance.
What could you implement in these scenarios?
After designing the policy, it's crucial to review it with your employees and actively seek their opinions. This step fosters a sense of inclusivity and fairness, ensuring that your attendance policy is sustainable and meets the needs of your workforce.
It’s a great opportunity to make sure your attendance policy is sustainable.
After finalizing your policy, make sure you communicate it to your employees and managers. Not only managers but also the HR department should be trained and able to understand and explain any part of it to the employees.
The attendance policy should be part of the employee handbook, and easily accessible from a digital source.
Every company has its needs and specificities, but the goal is to inform your employees of your expectations regarding attendance and how important it is for the organization's sake.
Here is a small list of the most important provisions to include in an attendance policy:
Describe how your company defines authorized and unplanned absence. A list should be offered containing every type of absence, the related procedure, and whether it is compensated or not.
Examples of authorized absence:
Examples of unplanned absence
Indicate the time all employees have to be present at work.
Define what your company considers “being late” and the exact amount of time. Some companies consider a 15-minute grace period, as many small things can happen before getting to work.
In this section, make sure you mention which superior should be notified about late arrival and the obligatory notification period.
Employment laws do not have provisions for this situation, so it would be a good idea to consider it in your attendance policy.
Job abandonment is the case when an employee stops coming to work without informing management and does not respond to attempts of contact on the employer’s part.
Make sure you define job abandonment clearly, such as not showing up for work three days in a row. Also, it is important to set the consequences: disciplinary action or immediate termination without pay.
Even though it’s unpleasant, disciplinary action must be taken in some cases to prevent the whole organization from suffering from poor attendance. Therefore, besides supervising employees directly, make sure you include a section in your policy stating what types of disciplinary actions can be taken for unexcused absences, such as:
This is a list of examples; you can adapt it to your company’s needs. Make sure you progressively apply the disciplinary measures, considering the severity of the misconduct and the employee’s record.
Flexible working hours can enhance productivity and promote a better work-life balance.
Consider if the nature of some positions allows it, offering different starting hours and more work-from-home days.
Remember! Having an attendance policy is not a question of “maybe yes, maybe no”. It’s one of the many procedural documents that can benefit your organization and your workforce.
If designing one seems like a hard job, we offer a free template below.
What is the purpose of an attendance policy?
An attendance policy emphasizes the importance of good and great attendance in an organization. This can lead to higher productivity levels and high morale for the employees.
What is a reasonable attendance policy?
A reasonable attendance policy implies that your employees are present at work no later than 15 minutes from the scheduled start time and inform management in case of unplanned absences at least 2 hours before the scheduled start date.
What does tardiness mean?
Several forms of tardiness exist, such as constantly arriving late at work, taking longer breaks than others, or leaving work early with permission.
How can employee attendance problems be improved?
To improve attendance within small to mid size business reflect on the following options:
How do I create a work schedule for my employees?
Ensuring there is a coherent work plan for each of your employees is the first step towards an well running organization. Yet there are more aspects that you can consider:
What actions can be taken to address poor attendance?
The first steps are creating an attendance policy and tracking attendance. Discuss with the employee if the issues continue, and ultimately, disciplinary action can be taken.
Where should an attendance policy be incorporated?
Your attendance policy should be included in your employee handbook and preferably available in a digital version at all times.